Stay Stay Stay
by Kayson3259
Summary: Spencer and Toby have been through it all as a couple. But now, as they navigate married life, they find themselves cracking under pressure at the everyday things. After all they've been through, will their love prevail? Part III of the Red Trilogy.
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note: **Hey to everyone who decided to continue with me on this journey involving my Red trilogy. This will be the third (and final, I promise) installment. Just as a note, this story picks up where the last left off. This is the first story to not start in the middle and it's written more like a grouping of novellas (I guess...?) that each take place in a different year of Spencer and Toby's marriage. _

_Now that all of the formalities are out of the way..._

* * *

**Prologue**

"Are we really married?" Spencer murmured as she stared at the gold vintage wedding band with a diamond that once belonged to Toby's mother.

He nodded before kissing her on the head.

"We have a few minutes before we have to go out there," she said quietly before looking at the door leading out to the ballroom where the cocktail hour was being held.

"What are you trying to say?" Toby asked cautiously.

She let a faint smile cross her lips. "I think you know what I'm trying to say," she replied as she reached for his hands.

"As enticing and great as that sounds, I'm almost sure that's not a good idea," he answered.

She pouted. "Well I guess you'll have to make it up to me on our honeymoon," she sing-songed. "Maybe two or three or seven times over."

"I'm starting to wonder what's gotten into you," he teased.

"Well…you know what they say. Sex is the first thing to go," she told him.

He was about to say something before there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Spencer chirped before getting up.

Hanna walked in. Her hair looked perfect, as per usual, but she looked a bit frazzled. "Hey, how are the two of you lovebirds doing?" she asked breathlessly.

"Fine, but the question is how are you doing?" Toby inquired with concern.

Hanna sighed quickly. "I'm fine. I've been chasing Cassidy around. I don't know how or when, but she managed to get to some sweets and now she's running around like crazy. I managed to get her and return her to Aria, but who knows when she's going to get the next wave of her sugar rush?" she asked before taking Spencer's seat. After exactly five seconds of taking deep breaths, Hanna jumped back up and turned to them, shaking her head. "I'll get time to breathe later, after this is over. I should probably get back to my job as maid of honor," she said before walking back towards the door. "And Mrs. Cavanaugh? I expect you to do an _amazing _job as my maid of honor when I get married," she said before opening the door and exiting.

Spencer laughed. "You have to love Hanna…" she thought aloud.

* * *

She rested her head on his shoulder as they danced slowly. It wasn't elaborate or ostentatious like some couples insisted their first dances be. It was simple. It was sincere. It wasn't trying to impress anyone. In a nutshell, it reflected them as a couple.

As the song ended, she pulled back to face him as other couples and other people joined them on the floor.  
"This day was perfect," she commented.

"There's no such thing as perfect."

"That's what I thought. But this day _was_," she said. "I got married to the most amazing person ever. What could be more perfect than that?"

"I'm not _that _amazing…"

She smiled. "But you are. And now you're all mine _forever_. So good luck ever trying to get out of it," she teased.

"I'm kind of surprised you'd even think that of me," he answered, feigning disbelief.

She shook her head. "You're a goofball. But more importantly, you're _my _goofball."

From across the room, Aria was holding Cassidy as she stood next to Emily. Cassidy was falling asleep rather quickly. Emily looked with some kind of envy at all the couples around the room. She wanted love like that.

"What are you thinking, Em?" Aria asked as Cassidy began murmuring something into her shoulder.

Emily sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. It's been a long time since I've been on a date."

Aria nodded. "Well, I can guarantee that you're going to make some lucky girl _really _happy one day," Aria assured her.

Emily just sighed again.

Back on the dance floor, Hanna was dancing with Caleb. But she couldn't help but be distracted. She was biting down on her lower lip so hard, Caleb was concerned she might start bleeding.

"Are you okay, Hanna?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

She snapped back into reality. "Oh, um, yeah, it's just…if they didn't get that cake exactly right I think I might have to go after somebody," she said.

He just laughed and she smiled.

* * *

"But Toby—"

"Spencer, are you really—"

"Yes, I'm really asking you to take me home!" she exclaimed. "I miss my baby," she complained.

"Spencer, Pandora is fine at home. She was sleeping when Emily checked on her, remember?" Toby inquired.

"I know, but that was hours ago. Please, Toby?" she said with pleading brown eyes.

"The wedding is almost over, Spencer. Can we wait until then?" he asked.

She sighed. "Fine," she gave in. "But if my baby is upset or hurt—"

"Cats are really independent creatures, Spencer. They can usually handle themselves for as long as a day or two. I think she's fine for a few hours."

"I know, but she's all alone and what if she's lonely?" Spencer inquired with the concern in her voice evident. Toby couldn't help but wonder what it would be like leaving their child at home with a babysitter for the first time. Spencer would be a mess.

"We can leave in an hour, Spencer. It only takes half an hour to get back."

She sighed. "Fine, I guess that's okay," she mumbled.

* * *

Pandora meowed as she trotted over to Spencer and Toby when they walked through the door. Spencer quickly scooped her up in her arms.

"I'm sorry that Daddy didn't want to come home early to see you," Spencer said to Pandora as Pandora buried her head into Spencer's dress.

"Really, Spence?" Toby inquired. He still couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice.

"She was lonely! Just like I said she would be! And now we have to leave her again…" Spencer trailed off. Pandora was purring in her arms.

"She and Hanna seemed to be pretty good friends. I don't think you have anything to worry about," Toby said as he put his hands on her shoulders.

Spencer just pouted when she looked down at Pandora and had to think of leaving her again.

He just sighed behind her. "I'm going to draw a hot bath. Do you want to join me?"

She could tell he was smiling when he said it. Of course, he was; he got her with that.

"I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

_Please review/follow/favourite this new story of mine! It would be much appreciated and I love hearing from my readers. _

_Thank you for reading! **-Kayson**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **Hey guys! I'm back! I hope you enjoy the first chapter of "Stay Stay Stay"! _

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Tiffany! They're home!" Hanna exclaimed as she jumped down from the couch in Spencer and Toby's house. She quickly hung up the phone and threw it haphazardly on the couch. She ran over to the door to greet the newly married couple from their honeymoon.

"Hey! We missed you!" the blonde shouted eagerly as she threw her arms around Spencer and then Toby. Pandora had followed her.

"How was my baby?" Spencer asked as she pet the cat.

"Pandora Cat Cavanaugh was fine. She _insisted _on sleeping on a pile of Toby's t-shirts," Hanna told them.

Spencer smiled amusedly. "See? She likes you a lot, Toby," Spencer told him.

"And then, she spent the rest of her time walking on your bed. She looked so cute! I took like a thousand pictures of her," Hanna said before pulling out her phone and showing them.

Spencer fawned over the pictures. "You need to send me those, Hanna."

Hanna nodded. Toby let them talk a little more as he picked up Pandora and walked back into the house. Pandora crept up to his shoulder and positioned herself around his neck. She began to rub his cheek.

Behind him, Toby heard the door close. Spencer walked in and gasped. "Are you cheating on me with Pandora? Or…"

Her eyes widened as she thought of the other possible scenario. "Is Pandora cheating on me with you?"

Toby shook his head at her. Pandora meowed at Spencer.

"Anything you ever said about Pandora is a lie," Spencer said before walking over. Pandora jumped into her arms. "She loves you so much," she commented as she rubbed Pandora. "She's such a sweetheart," she commented to nobody in particular.

* * *

"Bor! Bor! Bor!" Cassidy exclaimed as she crawled, trying to catch up to the smaller cream-colored British shorthair.

"What ever prompted you to name your cat Bourgeois, anyway?" Spencer asked as she took a sip of coffee.

Aria sighed. "It's a really long story. I was feeling nostalgic and started roaming through my college textbooks. I opened one and encountered the French Revolution. Cassidy loves the name," she explained.

"So his nickname is Bor?"

"Cassidy is the only one who calls him that because she can't really pronounce Bourgeois yet," Aria said.

"Bor! Do!" Cassidy exclaimed, calling out for the cats as they ran past Aria and Spencer. Aria scooped her daughter up in her arms.

"Whoa! Where are you going, Cass?" Aria asked. "You don't want to stay a while and talk to Auntie Spencer and me?" she teased.

Cassidy just gave them a cute, guilty-looking smile. She pointed towards the cats and Aria put her down. "Fine. Play with your friends."

"Thanks, Mommy."

Cassidy ran off. Spencer smiled. "She's such a sweetheart and so cute."

Aria scrutinized Spencer. "Okay, I see that look in your eyes. I thought I might have been seeing it before, with Chloe, but I wasn't too sure. Do you want to have a child?" Aria asked.

Spencer looked at Aria before taking a look at Cassidy. "Um…I mean…I do. But…I don't think I'm ready now. It's one thing holding Cassidy, but it's another holding your own flesh and blood in your arms. Especially after…" she trailed off.

Aria nodded while trying to give her a small smile. "Yeah, I understand, Spencer."

"I kind of spoke to Toby about this but whenever I talk to him about it…" she trailed off again. "He says he's fine, but I can tell by his eyes that he's not. I just…I want to make him happy. And I feel selfish by saying, 'No, we can't have children yet,' because I see that look in his eyes that he gets whenever he holds one of his nieces."

Aria put her hand over Spencer's. "Hey, Spencer. Toby loves you so, so much. If you're not ready, he'll understand. Maybe in a few months, you'll have a change of heart. But I don't think Toby would ever leave you because you're not ready to have kids yet. You're only twenty-seven. Most women don't have a baby until they're in their thirties," Aria insisted.

Spencer tried to keep a tear from rolling down her cheek, but found it increasingly difficult.

"It's okay to cry about it."

* * *

"Can you please explain to me again how I got roped into babysitting for Tiffany and Shane?" Hanna asked as she rocked Chloe back and forth in her arms. Luckily for her, Chloe was asleep and would likely stay that way.

Emily shrugged before taking a sip of her coffee. She was checking something on her phone.

"Who are you texting, Miss Social Butterfly?" Hanna asked.

Emily shrugged. "Nobody."

Hanna sat with her mouth agape. "Nobody? Is that code for 'I have a crush, but I'm too scared to tell you who since I'm a prude'?" Hanna asked.

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. "Me? A prude?"

Hanna gave her the Classic Spencer Look. "You've been single for forever," she said.

The brunette sighed. "Not by choice, Han."

Hanna frowned. "I guess that means I have to find you a date."

Suddenly, the blonde was quite happy again. "I get to find you a date!" she professed. "Oh, my God! Ems! I'm going to find you the most _amazing _girl ever and then you guys are going to get married and adopt like twenty kids and like three pets, who I think should probably be birds. I don't know; you always struck me as the bird type. Oh, but you should keep them away from Aria. She'll probably shoot them and turn them into feather earrings for herself—"

"Hanna? I appreciate you wanting to set me up with someone, but I want to do this for myself," Emily said as she put down the phone.

Hanna slumped back in her seat. She wasn't used to Emily being so firm about things. And then she felt small pangs of guilt. She realized how much she would've hated it if someone constantly insisted that she needed to date.

You know, if she were still single.

"So how is Caleb?" Emily asked, changing the subject. Hanna was quite glad to see a smile on her face.

"Oh," Hanna began with a happy sigh, "he's fine. We're fine. Better than fine, actually. I don't know what it is about him…I can just be so open. I haven't felt this way since…you know."

On occasion, it still hurt her to mention his name. Emily understood.

"I'm glad you were able to find someone to make you happy," she answered. There was an undertone of longing in her voice. Hanna could hear it.

"You'll find someone to make you happy someday," the blonde insisted as she brushed back some of the baby's hair. "I promise, Em."

* * *

Spencer laughed as she watched Pandora toss around a wad of tin foil which had missed the garbage can. She laughed even harder as Pandora prepared to pounce on a still ball of tin foil.

"What are you doing? You're such a silly cat," Spencer said before rubbing Pandora on the head.

Spencer got up and went back to preparing dinner. Occasionally, Pandora ran up past her legs, her tail tickling Spencer's bare legs. Spencer couldn't help whenever that happened.

Spencer heard the door open sometime later.

"Hey," Spencer greeted as Toby gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey. How were you? And Pandora?"

Spencer moved towards the sink to watch her hand. "Pandora is fine. She's been playing with that tin foil for the last hour. I, however, missed you a lot. And I'm anxious. What if something goes wrong?"

Toby laughed as he pushed some hair away from her eyes. "Please. Look at Pandora. She's going to be fine at the vet. You're worrying for nothing. She was fine two weeks ago when we got her," he reminded Spencer.

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just worrying too much. I'm sure she'll be fine."

* * *

Spencer pet Pandora anxiously before the veterinarian, Dr. Keough, came back in. She examined the charts. She smiled at Spencer and Toby.

"So is everything fine with her?" Toby asked. He already knew Spencer was too apprehensive to even form a coherent sentence.

"Pandora is completely fine. But I did want to talk to you about a few things," she said before taking a seat next to the table where Pandora was standing. Toby somehow managed to pry Spencer away from Pandora and got her to sit down next to him, across the room from both of them. He squeezed her hand to remind her that she was fine. Spencer sighed.

"I wanted to talk to you about getting her spayed and some of her vaccines. The shelter you adopted Pandora from didn't have a veterinarian. By law, that means they weren't able to give her her rabies shot. I strongly suggest we get that taken care of right away. Then there are a few other important vaccines she should get, but they're not as important as getting the rabies shot. Finally, you should think about getting her spayed soon," Dr. Keough said before she stroked Pandora on the head.

Spencer felt a lump rising in her throat from nervousness. "Spayed?" she asked cautiously.

Dr. Keough nodded. "We recommend that all parents spay or neuter their pets. For females especially, it's a good idea to spay them. That way, none of you have to deal with the unpleasant things that come with a cat going through estrus."

Spencer and Toby were both confused.

"That's when a cat is in heat. When it's feeling…when the cat thinks it's time to reproduce and is rather eager to," she explained uneasily.

They both nodded. Dr. Keough continued. "Generally, it helps cats live longer and it's just better for the animal shelters. Let's say Pandora didn't get spayed. What if she encounters some feral cat and you decide you can't care for the whole litter. It overwhelms the shelters and there's a greater chance that the kittens will have to be euthanized," Dr. Keough told them. "That's why we recommend everyone who owns a cat, except for professional breeders, spays or neuters their animal."

"I think we should bring Pandora in as soon as possible," Toby said before taking a look at Spencer to make sure she was okay with it.

She nodded. "I think we should," she answered quietly.

"Great!" the vet exclaimed before looking again at Pandora's papers. "Well, she is already seven weeks old, so you can actually get her spayed as soon as next week. Would you like to schedule an appointment?"

Toby nodded. "Can we bring her in next week?"

Dr. Keough nodded. "You can bring her in next Saturday, if that works for you. The surgery doesn't take very long, but she'll have to go under anaesthesia. What happens is an incision is made below her belly button. Then, we can remove the reproductive track, ovaries, and uterus. She'll get stitched up and should be up and walking within ten to twenty minutes. But to be safe, we'll probably want to keep her overnight. With young cats, like Pandora, everything usually goes fine and she should be completely fine within ten days," she told them.

Spencer looked a bit upset upon learning that Pandora would have to stay overnight.

* * *

Spencer opened the carrier door to let Pandora out. Pandora pushed the cage door open and ran off to Spencer and Toby's room.

"Are you okay, Spence? You were silent the whole ride home," he noted.

She shrugged. Clearly, she wasn't fine. "I don't know. I'm just scared something might go wrong with Pandora's surgery," she said.

Toby rubbed her bare arms. "Spence, everything is going to go well. Pandora is a kitten. I don't think Dr. Keough would do anything she thought would put Pandora in any kind of serious harm or danger."

Spencer was silent. "I guess I'm just scared because…she's like my baby," she murmured. She was avoiding looking him in the eyes. He could tell there was something else bothering her.

"Is there something else that's bothering you?"

She sighed. "Can we go upstairs and talk about this?"

* * *

Pandora was playing with some sweaters in the closet as they both sat down on the bed.

"Spencer…you haven't said anything and we've been here for fifteen minutes," Toby informed her.

Spencer sighed. "What do you think about children? I known you weren't really being honest. I know how I feel about it, but…what about you?" she asked as she wiped away a stray tear. She looked at him expectantly.

He was silent for a few seconds. "I want children. I know you've seen me hold Cassidy and Chloe and I love having nieces. I know I would love them so much. But I also love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. And I don't want you to feel pressured to have a baby or anything like that. I'll wait until you're ready. I trust that we'll eventually get there. You're just not ready yet," he concluded.

She nodded in agreement. "I'm really glad we talked about this, Toby. And maybe…I think we're just settling into being married. I don't know if I'm ready to share you, yet," she said, a small smile on the corners of her lips.

He laughed. "Well, it seems I'm already sharing you with a cute little blonde," he replied before pulling her closer.

She smiled. "I'll be sure to tell Hanna you're feeling jealous of her," she teased before giving him a small peck on the lips.

She realized with certainty that this was all she really needed and wanted for now. She wasn't ready for her life to change yet again. At least, not yet.

* * *

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_I'm glad you liked it! And only Spencer. Pandora is so loved. And Hanna is just...I don't know what she was thinking about. Ooh, and you caught one of my plot points this story..._

**_AL3110:_**_I do not know what this is, but I love you too :) _

**_Sarah:_**_Thank you, Sarah :) Glad you're back. _

**_MizzIsTheFizz: _**_Yes, true, true (said the Sour Kangaroo). It's funny how at the last wedding, Spencer was the one flipping out about everything, but now she's cool as a cucumber. Thanks for reading!_

**_Guest: _**_Aww :) Thank you so much! That's very sweet. _

**_spobylover1237: _**_Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter :)_

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_Thank you :) I'm really glad you like my writing and I hope you enjoy this threequel. _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_Well I've missed you on both of my stories! I'm glad you're finally back (though school is a bit hectic and unpredictable, so I won't count on you being consistent, but I do understand). Chloe and Cassidy will probably be the most spoiled children ever. But it's okay because they're as cute as teeny tiny buttons. And Pandora, of course. And I'm glad you caught the parallel between Begin Again and Everything Has Changed with Tiffany and Toby. Yes, I think that Spencer and Toby might just have kids in this threequel...I can't say when but...wait for it! And I know school can be a headache. Don't worry about me. School is way more important and I will probably be very overwhelmed with school next week (because ew, it's the start of the 4th quarter and teachers will probably start prepping us for the dreaded finals...well, everyone except for my Bio teacher, who doesn't teach us anything). And I don't mind the reviews thing very much. Though I would be curious to know what you think about the one-shot collections (since I believe you read them a while back). Though I totally don't except you to read every single one...there's like fifty something now and I know how school can get). But thanks for reviewing and I did miss you. _

**_Guest: _**_I'm glad you loved it :)_

_Okay, so as some of you may/may not know, today is my birthday (hooray). For my birthday, I'd like some feedback. It would be much appreciated and I love hearing from you guys. It's very wonderful and I love it. Or even a PM is good. PMs are fun. I just spent like thirty minutes responding to some PMs :)_

_I don't know when I'll get to update it next. I have some ideas for this story, but with the one-shots and some other things going on, you probably shouldn't expect daily updates like I got to do with BA and EHC. But I'll try not to abandon this story (I don't think you'll have to worry about that, but just in case). **-Kayson**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: **He's ba-ack!_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Toby led Spencer out of the animal hospital. She looked sick.

"Are you okay?"

She made a face. "Toby, I think I'm about to throw up," she concluded.

"Pandora is going to be fine. She's strong like her mother is," he said with a smile.

She didn't look like she was pacified at all by that. "But she's just a little kitten! They don't…she wouldn't grow up _that _fast, would she? She…she wouldn't do that to us, would she?" she asked.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Spence, she's a cat. If she were to…I don't think that she'd know what she's doing and that she can get pregnant," he told her.

She crossed her arms. She wish there was some kind of cat birth control or something…she didn't want to make her cat undergo a surgery when she was barely two months old. "Are you sure it's not too late to—"

"Spencer."

She pouted. "Are you going to pick her up tomorrow? Because I don't think I can come back here," she said with a small pout.

He was about to protest, but realized it would probably be better if he kept his mouth shut. "Sure. I'll pick her up tomorrow if you're not comfortable with it."

* * *

"Spencer."

Spencer was a bit taken aback by Tiffany's stern tone. She wasn't used to Tiffany putting her foot down. "What?"

Tiffany was not amused. "Spencer, you can't just go meet your ex and not tell Toby. What if someone else tells him? What if _I _tell him?" she inquired.

Spencer frowned. "Tiff, you couldn't really do that, would you?"

"Toby is like a brother to me, Spencer. You can't just tell me this and expect me _not _to tell him. Especially knowing the way Andrew's sick mind works," she said with a small scoff.

"I'll tell him later tonight, when he brings Pandora home from the hospital," Spencer said. She paused. "I'm so nervous that Pandora—"

"Oh, don't go changing the subject on me, Spencer Hastings…Cavanaugh! Hastings-Cavanaugh," Tiffany corrected.

"Actually, I dropped Hastings entirely. It's just Cavanaugh," Spencer amended.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "That's not what we were talking about," she answered.

"I don't know why you're so concerned, Tiffany! It's Andrew. I set him up with Valeria already. Last I heard, they're actually dating and she's _not _just a surrogate. I think he's actually planning on doing it the old fashioned way," Spencer noted.

"Does it matter, Spencer? Secrets are secrets and sometimes lies, too! You literally got married less than two weeks ago and you're already keeping stuff from him."

"My God, Tiffany! People are allowed to keep secrets! It's not like I'm pregnant and not telling him. It's not like I'm having an affair!"

"Yeah, but it's only a matter of time before secrets add up. Lies breed more lies, Spencer!"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous. I don't even know why I told you. I wouldn't have if I knew you were going to flip out like this!"

* * *

Spencer was just deciding what she was going to eat when she saw two people walk up in her peripheral vision. She looked up to see Andrew with a woman. Valeria. The woman he chose as a surrogate.

She was just as beautiful, if not more stunning, in real life. It almost made Spencer…_jealous_. But then she shook away the feelings, recalling that she was now married.

She looked down at her engagement and wedding band. What Tiffany was saying to her earlier now began to bother her.

But Valeria and Andrew interrupted her reverie. They sat across from Spencer.

"Hi, I'm Spencer," Spencer said as she extended her hand to Valeria.

Valeria gave her a dazzling white smile. "Hi. I'm Valeria," she answered.

"It's nice to meet you," Spencer said softly. "I've heard a lot about you."

Valeria smiled. Spencer could tell it wasn't exactly sincere or warm. She couldn't help but wonder why.

"How are you, Spencer?" Andrew asked, breaking the awkward silence Spencer wasn't even aware filled the space between them.

"I'm fine." She wasn't too sure whether it was proper etiquette to tell your ex-fiancé about your honeymoon.

He nodded. The awkward silence filled the air again.

After more meaningless exchanges were given, Andrew excused himself to pick up a business call. Both Spencer and Valeria saw him off and were left quiet and unsure of what to say.

"So have you and Andrew pursued the surrogacy yet?" Spencer asked.

Valeria looked confused. "How did you—"

"Oh! I assumed Andrew had told you. I went with him to the agency to help him with the whole thing. I am…was a friend of his. I don't really know where we stand now. We haven't spoken in a while," Spencer explained uncomfortably.

Valeria nodded, trying to understand. "He never told me. I mean, he's mentioned you a few times before."

Spencer felt a bit uncomfortable. But she just had to ask. "Did he ever say anything else about me?" she inquired curiously.

"No." Spencer could tell that Valeria was getting an uneasy feeling about him.

"Andrew is…"

She wasn't sure if telling Valeria would be some kind of betrayal. She could always tell him that she just slipped up and didn't realize she didn't know. That would work, right?

"We were engaged. Obviously, we're not anymore. And I'm glad that he found you. We found you, I guess."

Valeria looked really taken aback and uneasy about this whole thing. "Engaged?"

"I swear, that's all in the past. I'm married now, if that makes you feel better," Spencer said, trying to soothe her. She picked up her drink, unknowingly flashing her diamond engagement ring and wedding band.

She swore she heard Valeria breathe a small sigh of relief. "So you're married?" she asked for confirmation.

Spencer nodded with a smile. "Yes, and I'm very happy. I know what you were thinking. Or at least, I think I do. And I'm happy for both of you," she answered with a sincere smile.

Valeria had to smile at that.

* * *

Tiffany let out a heavy sigh of frustration as she paced back and forth around her house.

"I mean…how am I supposed to just _not _tell Toby about what Spencer is doing? I feel like if the situation was reversed and you told him that you were going to meet some girl you used to sleep with and…I would want him to tell me. I mean, you would want him to tell you, right?"

She looked at her husband, who was too busy cradling their daughter at the moment to even notice.

"Shane! I know Chloe is adorable, but could you at least _pretend _to listen to my rant here?" she asked.

He shook out of it. "Sorry, what was that?"

Tiffany sighed and rolled her eyes before sitting down next to him.

"I think you should wait a day or two before you say anything to either of them. If in like two or three days, it seems like he still doesn't know, you should talk to Spencer about it and see if she told him. And if in like a week or so, he still doesn't seem to know, maybe you should talk to him yourself."

Tiffany thought about that in silence for a moment. Finally, she kissed her husband on the cheek. "You're really great at giving advice. Has anyone ever told you that?"

He just smiled at her before looking down at their sleeping daughter.

"She has your eyes, you know?" she asked as she looked at her.

"She's asleep. You can't see her eyes."

She shrugged. "But I just know."

* * *

Toby walked in carrying a cat carrier, which Pandora was obviously in. Spencer practically jumped up from her seat to see her. Toby put the carrier on the floor before letting Pandora out. Pandora was still stumbling a bit, almost as if she was drunk. The sight was almost comical to Toby, who the vet had explained everything to.

"Toby! Why are you laughing? She's probably in a lot of pain!" Spencer scolded as she looked at Pandora. She was very hesitant to even get too close to Pandora, knowing they had cut open her abdomen.

"Dr. Keough told me that it's nothing to worry about and it happens to most dogs and cats when they get spayed or neutered. When they give them the sedative and they go under general anaesthesia, they get a shot. It usually takes a bit for the effects to completely go away. It helps them deal with the pain."

Spencer frowned at the mere thought of her Pandora in pain.

"But she did tell me about something else," Toby said.

Spencer looked up at him in concern. She was truly scared about something going wrong with Pandora's surgery or Pandora having some rare, untreatable feline condition or something extremely melodramatic like that.

"She talked to me about the animal shelter. She said that she was asked by people who run the shelter to ask…she wanted to know if we knew anyone interested in fostering some animals," he told her.

She thought about that for a moment. "Foster the animals?"

"I told her we might know some people," he hinted at.

Spencer thought some more. "What exactly do you do?"

"We would just have to take care of the animals while they're getting ready to be adopted. We would probably take the kittens and the puppies that are still too young to be adopted out and still need some supervision—"

Spencer could've swooned.

"—or help some of the senior animals that need extra help—"

Spencer felt her heart melt a bit at the thought.

"—or maybe even take care of a pregnant dog or cat. She said that it's really a shame how many impregnated stray dogs and cats are brought there. And it's even worse that a lot of the puppies and kittens and mothers have to be euthanized anyway," he explained.

Spencer pouted. "Wait, so what did you say to her?"

"I said that we would ask around and see if anyone wanted to do it," he answered.

She thought for a moment. "Are you—"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it."

Spencer thought some more before she looked at her stumbling baby. "But with Pandora—"

"I told her that some of my friends have cats. Apparently there's a whole selection pool or criteria or something before a pet gets placed in your home. If there's a pet that can't stay with a kitten, there are several more animals that can and will be placed here," he explained. "But I wanted to ask you about it before I said anything to her."

Spencer smiled. "That's really sweet," she said before giving him a small kiss. "You should tell her yes. I would quit my own job if we were able to do this and the animals needed someone to stay home with them. I would be so happy to do this."

* * *

**_MizzIsTheFizz: _**_Yes, you should definitely read the prequels to figure out what's going on! I could describe it, but it's just not the same. And thanks!_

**_Guest:_**_Thank you so much! My birthday was definitely fun (ooh, I forgot what that word even meant). And I'm really glad you like the Red universe, BUT I promise this is the last story in that AU. No more after this (though this story will be longer than the rest, considering it will be 6 [OMG] parts instead of 3 as per usual). And I love Pandora's relationship with both Spencer and Toby! She's as close as they're going to get to having a baby, for now. And she's like my baby. I've been told Pandora has her own fandom! I've already gotten requests to add in a Pandora romance, which I thought was pretty funny. _

**_Sarah:_**_Well, right now...I think they've only been married about a month. They got married at the end of September. Now I think it's around the middle of October or somewhere around there. I'd probably say middle/end of October, so yes, about a month. And then they will have been together now for...almost three years. Wow. _

**_AL3110:_**_Nope, sorry, AL. I don't like the Beatles. Oops. #SorryNotSorry. But Lana is still amazing. And I'll still love you when you're old and ugly (as mean as it might sound). Because I will always be older and uglier than you. _

**_spobylover1237:_**_We need a ship name for Spencer and Pandora. Spandora? No? I like it. _

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_It'll happen...eventually. I can't tell you which part or when, but they'll have a baby. I promise :)_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_I can try, but honestly, I'm not going to cover all the pertinent details and even if I do, I don't think you'll quite understand after I've explained it all. I'll provide a small summary for all the people who are reading this &amp; haven't read the prequels. _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_I know! I'm already counting down the days (40 days of actual school left for me). Aww, and I'm glad my writing is that soothing because this hiatus is about as painful as sugar withdrawal. To be honest, I got that from Keegan and his cat Minin. He takes a bunch of pictures of Minin and I've seen some pictures of Minin wrapped around Keegan's neck and it's so cute. #Handora and #Spandora are the best. And I guess Pandora/Toby are #Tandora. Too many ship names. Pandora is just about as shippable as her mommy. _

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_Aww, that's so sweet. I'm glad you liked it._

_Alright, the brief (and I mean **brief **summaries of the prequels):_

**_Begin Again:_**_Spencer and Andrew are engaged. Andrew is an a**hole who abuses Spencer (like, mentally and he's hit her). OH, and he cheats on her. Hanna is friends with Emily, Toby, Caleb, and Jason AND also Spencer and Aria. Hanna introduces Spencer to Emily (who she thought was Toby's girlfriend). They all meet at a bar. Aria gets extremely drunk and sleeps with Jason (and gets preggers), Hanna gets pretend-drunk and starts hitting on Caleb, and Spencer and Toby act as designated drivers. Blah blah blah stuff happens and everyone is together but Spencer and Toby. Toby realizes he likes Spencer, but Spencer's fed up with all the stuff surrounding her fiancé, and follows him on a business trip to Paris. Toby (being crazy) follows her to Paris (the city of love...j'adore. No?) and tells her about Andrew and Spencer sees it firsthand. She's really sad, throws her ring at his French whore, and runs away and she and Toby kiss (well he kisses her) and then she gets really sad because OOOH PLOT TWIST SHE'S PREGGERS TOO OOO KILL EM. That was lame. Anyway, moving on, some months later, Spencer's sad. Aria has the baby named Cassidy and she's kind of-sort of seeing Jason, but focusing on the baby. Anyway, Spencer's sad because she had the baby and he died. So she's depressed and Toby finally sees her and learns that she was pregnant. Awkward stuff happens and Spencer FINALLY admits she loves Toby and smoochy smoochy stuff happens. Tiffany gets married. The end. _

**_Everything Has Changed: _**_Spencer and Toby are together now and happy. They even have sex and move in together. Good times. But wait! That's not all. Andrew comes back to screw things up. Somehow, he found out about his son and now wants to make a baby with Spencer. But Spencer doesn't want to. But wait! There's more! Toby's ex (who he was planning to propose to) comes back and she wants Toby back. And she's also kind of psycho and reveals that she tried to get pregnant without Toby's consent. And...more stuff happens that I can't even remember and eventually all the bad guys go away and Spencer and Toby get a kitty cat and get married Yay!_

_Ha ha ha ha. You guys thought I was done with Andrew. You thought he was goooooone. He's not. _

_Umm...I've already finished the next three chapters, but I kind of want to pace myself because I (for some odd reason) feel like writing will not be made easy in this last quarter of high school. I mean, finals, schoolwork, life, oh my! Not fun. My teachers really love piling on the tests and quizzes. And Latin is actually getting kind of hard. And Spanish is actually hard. And now I actually have to study..._

_Until next time! Bye! **-Kayson**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: **So I had to do some Elf on the Shelf thing which I still don't understand. IDK, but my cousin got a very Christmas-y looking ribbon and bow on her chair and that's the best we can do in five minutes..._

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Spencer pouted as she heard Pandora cry out. She reached out to pet Pandora, who started rubbing her nose against Spencer's fingers. Clearly, she wanted to be comforted.

"I know you're in pain, but it'll get better. I promise," Spencer insisted.

Pandora groaned again. She rolled onto her back, not wanting the laceration on her stomach to be irritated or touched in any kind of way.

"How do you feel about a foster brother or sister?" she asked absentmindedly.

Pandora stopped her soft steady purr to stare at Spencer. It was like she knew exactly what Spencer was saying.

"No?" Spencer inquired nervously.

Pandora nudged her to persuade her to keep petting her. Spencer complied. The more she thought about fostering, however, the more she wanted to do it.

* * *

Spencer found herself getting more and more anxious about potentially fostering an animal the more she thought of Pandora.

The volunteer came back with an application. She was a tall dirty-blonde. Her long hair was put up in a loose, messy bun. But she still looked pretty. She handed the application to Spencer and Toby.

"This application is kind of long. I don't know if you want to sit here and fill it out, but you can bring it back whenever and the shelter director will look over your application for fostering. But I'm sure you'll get the application, especially since you said you adopted a cat here not too long ago?"

Toby took the application and began looking it over. Spencer nodded with a smile.

"Is the fact that we have a kitten in the house going to be a problem?" she asked as Toby furrowed his eyebrows at some of the questions on the application.

The woman thought it over for a moment before shaking her head. "Um…I don't think so. If she's rambunctious, maybe, but for the most part, it shouldn't be a problem for most different types of animals, and there's so many pets in the shelter that I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a suitable foster," the girl insisted.

"Just out of curiosity, what are some different kinds of foster animals?"

She thought. "Pregnant cats and dogs are probably the biggest concern for us. There are some bottle babies that we can't always keep an eye on, nursing mothers, puppies who need training, and then some animals—mostly dogs—who have kennel shock and need to be in a calmer environment. Oh, and then there are some blind and deaf animals or animals with a medical condition that can't be properly cared for in a shelter. But if you and your husband have full-time jobs and can't be home at all times to care for an animal with a health condition, I suggest you check off the box which says you're unprepared to care for an animal who needs a lot of medical attention at all times," she said, peering over the application Toby was beginning to work on.

Spencer looked back at the application Toby was beginning to write. She turned back to the woman. "Well, we're going to look it over."

The woman nodded. "Sure. No problem. Bring it back whenever you'd like."

Spencer nodded. The girl was quiet for a minute before piping up.

"There's a bunch of animals we're looking for a home for right now. Would you like to meet some of them, just so you can get a sense of what some of them need?" she asked.

Spencer gave Toby a pleading look before he nodded. "Sure."

The woman led them to a wing of the shelter with a bunch of big…cells. That was all Spencer could really say to describe them. They were like prison cells for the poor animals. There were some dogs and cats crying and scratching to get out. Spencer felt her heart breaking for them.

"The poor animals usually can't stay with all of the other cats and dogs. A lot of them just can't stay here because they're rescues and being in cages just reminds them of the time they were abused, even if we're caring for them," the volunteer commented sadly. She opened up one of the cages with a white pitbull. As the dog walked out, it became apparent that she was pregnant.

The girl quickly crouched down to pet her. "This is Delilah. She was brought here about a week ago. She's maybe six weeks along with a litter of puppies. We actually just found a potential home for her when she whelps her puppies, which should be in about a week," she explained as the pitbull gave her a few kisses. "We like to give pregnant cats and dogs to foster families because it's a lot more peaceful and less stressful in a home environment than here in the shelter."

Spencer bit her lip as she looked at Delilah again.

* * *

"Call me crazy but…I think my cake is better than Spencer's," Hanna sing-songed as she continued to frost her cake for Cassidy with little pink, purple, and blue flowers. It _did _look professionally made, if Hanna said so herself.

"Wow. That's actually a very nice cake, Hanna," Aria commented as she walked in with Cassidy on her hip. Cassidy nodded in agreement, her eyes getting wide at the little flowers and the white icing.

"Well, as long as our little bumblebee is happy," Hanna said before tilting Cassidy's head up to look at her hazel eyes, "_I'm _happy."

Cassidy smiled timidly before Hanna gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

"When is everyone else coming over?" Hanna asked as she put some finishing touches on the cake.

Aria thought about it. "Well…Caleb came with you. I don't know where he and Jason went. Tiffany, Shane, and Chloe are supposed to be here soon. So is Emily. I know Spencer and Toby wanted to go to the animal shelter today, so Spence said they might be a little late," Aria said as she fixed Cassidy's dress.

Hanna was surprised. Spencer really hadn't told her about going to the animal shelter. "Spencer didn't tell me. Is she adopting a brother or sister for Pandora?" she inquired.

Aria shrugged before putting Cassidy down. "I don't really know. She didn't say. She just told me that they were going and didn't know how long they'd be. But it reminds me that Jason and I need to take Bor to the vet soon. We keep putting it off, but he needs to get neutered."

Hanna winced. "Isn't that when they—"

"Yes."

She made a face. "But he's only a kitten. Isn't he still kind of…immature for that?" she inquired.

"I really don't want him causing any trouble, and Spencer told me that a male cat getting…unsexed…takes about fifteen minutes, according to her vet. And it doesn't even hurt. I think they make one or two small incisions and that's about it. I don't even know if he'll have to really get anaesthesia," she said.

Hanna shrugged. She still felt weird thinking about this.

Hanna put the cake aside. She took the bowl which the light green cream cheese icing was mixed in and dipped her finger in. She licked the icing off her index finger and pushed the bowl towards Aria.

"I'd better not," Aria said before pushing it back to Hanna.

Hanna raised an eyebrow. "It'll take the edge off," she replied enticingly before giving it back to Aria.

Aria looked at the bowl with yearning before finally giving into temptation.

As Aria was licking up the icing in the bowl, more people walked into the room. Aria was caught with icing on the side of her face.

Spencer and Emily stared at her while Hanna greeted Toby with a hug. Aria shamefully wiped some icing off her cheek.

"You've hit rock bottom."

Aria took a tiny breath. "I know."

Spencer handed Aria the giant box she had brought over.

"Did I ever tell you that you and your husband spoil my daughter?" she said as she looked at the size of the box, which was easily bigger than Cassidy herself.

"It's our job, Aria. Did you forget we're her _godparents_?" Spencer asked with a smile. She never tired of using the title in relation to Cassidy.

Aria had to smile at that before she hugged Spencer. Then she turned to Emily. "You look a bit more glum than usual," she commented.

Emily shrugged with a small sigh. "Just…same old, same old. I don't know. I've been a bit…" she trailed off before handing Aria her present for Cassidy.

"Toby? Help Aria?" Spencer asked when she saw that both boxes were probably bigger than the petite brunette.

Toby quickly took the boxes from Aria. Aria led him to the living room where he could put them with Jason and Aria's presents for their daughter.

"What's wrong, Emily?" Hanna asked with a concerned look in her blue eyes.

She shrugged. "I just…is there something wrong with me?" she asked.

Spencer shook her head profusely, as did Hanna. "Why would you say that, Em?" Spencer asked.

"I just feel really lonely. I haven't gone on a second date in almost four years and I'm going to be thirty soon. I feel like I need to start dating or I'll never have a family and…I want a family," she confessed.

Hanna rubbed her on the back. "Hey, Emily? You don't need another girl or a wife to start a family. You can do whatever you want to do on your own," she insisted.

"Yeah, and we're always going to be here. You know that, right?"

Emily looked at Spencer for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Auntie Spencer! Auntie Hanna!" Cassidy called from the living room as Spencer and Hanna helped Aria clean in the kitchen.

Aria smiled at them. "You go. I can finish. It's just drying plates now," she insisted.

Spencer and Hanna quickly went to the living room to see what was going on with Cassidy. She was playing with a few dolls she had gotten and the cute dollhouse Toby had built for her. She was brushing the hair on one of her dolls.

"Cass? Did you want to tell us something?" Hanna asked as she scrutinized Toby's work on the dollhouse.

She nodded. "I wanted to ask you something," she said before she put the doll in the dollhouse. She turned to face them. Spencer had to stifle a laugh. She wondered if Cassidy took a page from Aria's book on confrontations. She looked so much like her mother at this point. "Am I going to have any new cousins soon?" she asked, trying to contain her excitement.

Both Spencer and Hanna were speechless. They didn't think Cassidy would ask a question like that. Aria, sure, but…maybe Cassidy was borrowing a few pages from her mother's book.

"Why do you say that?"

Cassidy shrugged. "Mommy says that babies are born when a boy and a girl _really _like each other. And Auntie Spencer and Uncle Toby are always—"

"Cassidy!" Spencer exclaimed. The little girl smiled mischievously.

Hanna looked at Spencer with surprise. She couldn't believe what Cassidy was saying.

"And Mommy said that you really like Caleb, Auntie Hanna," Cassidy said.

Hanna nodded. "Your mommy is right; I do really like him, but usually a boy and a girl don't have a baby until they both know they're ready. Even if sometimes it's unexpected, like you. But you were the best surprise ever, right?" she asked.

Cassidy started laughing and she nodded. "Auntie Spencer?"

She was still waiting for a well-thought out explanation from Spencer. Spencer sighed. This girl had everyone wrapped around her little fingers.

"Well, Auntie Spencer and Uncle Toby just aren't ready to have a baby yet. And besides, we get to spoil you for now, until we do have a baby of our own," Spencer explained before giving Cassidy a hug. Cassidy hugged her back.

* * *

_So Cassidy was adorable and basically the voice of you guys right about now. Adorable. And she's three now. Freaking three. She surpassed the terrible twos and she's as cute as a little gumdrop. _

_Oh, and I have a question. I don't know, I'm just curious. What do you guys think Cassidy DiLaurentis's middle name be?_

**_Sarah: _**_I don't know if I'm really supposed to tell (but whatever; it's my fanfic), but yes, they will **eventually **have children. I think that (along with Spanna), a new crackship of mine is Spencer+pets because it's really precious. Just wait and see. I have a lot planned. Yes, I'm ambitious. And I deeply hate studying for tests and exams, as well. We can hate them together. And I'm concerned with all the classes aside from my language ones (so English, Spanish, and Latin are the ones I'm like absolutely positive I'm going to pass with A's). Math, Bio, and History are going to be the death of me. Even if I do so happen to enjoy learning about stuff in history. Ugh, which reminds me, I have to write propaganda in support of myself. Ideas?_

**_spobylover1237: _**_#Spandora is my ship. _

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_The truth always comes out. And I agree; lies breed more lies. But it'll all come out eventually. And no, thankfully, I can say that I have never had the pleasure of untangling spaghetti. :)_

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_I respond to all of my reviews :) If you ever have a question about anything, just ask, because I always respond (unless for some odd reason I am lacking the time to respond or I don't see your review). _

**_arubagirl0926:_**_Thank you. I try :)_

**_AL3110:_**_Stop reading my mind from Denmark! You'll see ;) You just have to be patient, AL! I don't like the Beatles that much and I really don't like needles. IDK what to tell you. Um...I'm not going to comment on that. _

**_MizzIsTheFizz:_**_Well, I don't think Andrew is going to interfere very much. Unless later on in the story I really have nothing better to do except throw a wrench in Spoby, but I have some ideas on what to do for the next few parts. _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_I love Minin Allen and Sheila Michele and Brian Colfer. They're just the best celebrity cats ever. Nah, I don't think we have to worry about Andrew interfering with Spoby. As for Spencer interfering with Anderia...I don't know...things could get messy. But I like Anderia. Maybe I'll keep them. And I don't know what to do about Chanel...since I think it's safe to assume she's still lurking in the Philly/Rosewood area. I think Shane is like the voice of reason and kind of keeps Tiffany grounded and they are kind of based off a couple in this project I am working on with these two characters whose names I will not disclose. In my project, they kind of are like the Spencer and Toby/hate to love kind of relationship in it, which is an interesting dynamic for me to write for (and I've explored it a lot in the one-shots I've posted recently). Tiffany is kind of headstrong and Shane is a lot more reserved and thinks before he speaks whereas sometimes Tiffany kind of puts her foot in her mouth. I kind of like that opposites-attract kind of relationship. Obvi, I love Spoby. _

**_vondydora: _**_I think I've basically established that Spencer's decisions aren't always sound in this AU (and if it's not apparent by now, she makes some bad decisions), but I think things will work themselves out. I don't really think that she really sees it as going behind Toby's back to visit Andrew. I guess that she just thinks it's not necessary to make him jump to conclusions or get concerned about Andrew when it really doesn't matter that much to her. As for Tiffany and Toby, I think they're two totally different people. I'd say Shane and Toby have more in common than Tiffany and Toby (which is probably what makes them such good friends). Shane and Toby are both less concerned (in my opinion) with another guy coming in. I mean, Andrew and Spencer have history, which probably upsets Toby (don't get me wrong), but I don't think that either of them would get overly jealous or concerned as maybe Spencer and Tiffany would. And it's great to have you back! I always like reading your reviews. _

_So spoilers: the next chappie is about coffee and babies and more babies and babies talking about babies and tw: abuse and Spelissa and Spoby+Melissa and Mrs. Hastings and fluffy blankies. I'm all spoiler'd out. _

_So...I don't know what to say. Oh, yes I do. My cousin's friends make a PLL podcast on YouTube on their channel which is ASOTV (as seen on tv). They've reached out to me and asked me to support their channel and their PLL podcasts since I have a lot of readers. So please support my cousin and his friends and watch their PLL videos. It would mean a lot of me and a whole lot to them and maybe you guys could give them some feedback. I know they'd appreciate it. _

_Thanks for reading! Bye! **-Kayson**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: **I think that in this chapter, you are introduced to a character who will become quite important in this leg/the first few sections of the book. I have no idea where my muse for her went, though...I miss her. _

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The next Saturday morning, Spencer was lying in bed, thinking. It was like she couldn't stop thinking about what Cassidy had said for the entire week. And she still couldn't get it off her mind.

"Spence? Are you up?" Toby asked quietly as he walked into their bedroom with two cups of coffee.

Spencer sat up and yawned. Toby brought the coffee over to her. She took a sip and placed it back on the coffee table. "Wow, I seem to have rubbed off on you. Your coffee is strong like mine," she commented with a smile. She looked at his cup and was shocked. "_And _you don't use any cream or sugar anymore?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? You've changed me," he joked before putting it down.

She laughed. "Come here, you sap," she teased. She settled into his arms and sighed. "You know when we were at Aria's and Jason's house for Cassidy's birthday? And Hanna and I helped Aria clean up after?"

"Yeah…?" he answered cautiously.

"Cassidy wanted to talk to me and Hanna afterwards and you'll never guess what she wanted to talk about."

"What did she say?" he asked curiously.

She began to laugh a little when she thought about it. "She…she asked me when she was going to have a cousin. And then she asked if you and I were going to have a child soon."

"And what did you say?"

"I said that we weren't ready to have a baby yet, so we would spoil her for the time being," she answered.

Before he could reply, it was brought to their attention that Pandora had found her way onto their bed. She began to nudge Toby. Spencer picked her up and began to pet her while holding her like a baby.

"She's the only baby I'm ready to have at the moment," she told him before kissing Pandora lightly on the head. Pandora meowed in response.

"What about the puppy you're picking up today and bringing home?" he inquired.

"I promise I won't fall in love with it _too _much. We're going to pick him up, take care of him, and then give him up to his forever home," she assured him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Forever home?"

"That's what they call it, Toby," she told him.

"Okay," he said with a small laugh.

She rolled her eyes. "You're very mature," she replied sarcastically before getting up with Pandora and putting her down on the floor. Pandora trotted into the closet.

"What? Did I make you both mad?"

* * *

"Okay, so I've been looking for the perfect dog for you, and I think I finally have him. He's a little Siberian Husky with a black and white coat. He's really sweet, but I figured he'd be good for you, especially when learning to be around other animals. But you also put in your application that you have a big yard with a park right by your house, so you just seemed like the perfect candidate for him," the volunteer said to Spencer. She pushed back a lock of her dirty blonde hair before looking over the application for the thousandth time. "Why don't you follow me to go meet him?" she asked with a small smile.

Spencer nodded before following her to the back room. There were a bunch of puppies jumping up and down to the sight of a new visitor. Spencer sort of wished she could take them all home with her and help them find forever homes.

Finally, they reached the penultimate cage in one row. The volunteer opened it and crouched down to greet its inhabitant. A black and white Siberian Husky with piercing blue eyes ran out to greet her. He began to lick her on the face and the girl started laughing.

"As you can see, he's very friendly. He's only five weeks old, so he's still small. This is Mason. He was brought here maybe a week ago by someone who found him tied up to a lamp post," she said sadly as she pet the smiling puppy. She gave him one final pat on the back before standing up. "So now I need to give you some papers and give you a little more information before you can take him home, okay?"

Spencer nodded eagerly as she looked at Mason, who was smiling without a care in the world.

The girl (with the puppy trailing behind her) led Spencer to a separate little room. Mason took right to the toys laid out for him there. The girl sat behind a desk and Spencer sat opposite from her. She printed out a few things and handed them to Spencer.

"So we've put Mason's picture in the local newspaper and we've already gotten some responses. I don't think Mason will take very long to adopt, so I don't think he'll be in your care for too long. But he is a little bit scared of some other dogs," she commented as she watched the puppy play with a ball, his tail wagging in delight.

"So should I keep him around my cat at all?" Spencer asked with a whisper of a smile on her face.

"Maybe wait a few days before introducing Pandora to him," the girl said as she rearranged her papers. She handed them over to Spencer. "Here is all of his information. You have a bed, toys, and food for him, right?" she asked.

Spencer nodded as she looked at the paper. "I got the special puppy dog food the volunteer who was here yesterday told me to get. He has a bed in the guest bedroom, which also has a bunch of toys for him," she replied.

The girl smiled. "Good. You seem to be really well prepared for a first time parent. And off the record, my contact information is on the bottom, so if you need any help or have any questions, don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you," Spencer said as the girl grabbed a carrier for Mason.

"Come on, boy!" she called before putting a leash on the dog. "He's going to get huge, so you can put him in the carrier for now, but you'll probably eventually just have to bring him back in his leash," she said. "And I'm Natalie, by the way," she said finally.

* * *

Toby walked in to see Spencer playing with the new puppy. He was wagging his tail happily as Spencer waved a toy in his face.

"Toby!"

The puppy barked. He hadn't taken notice of Toby yet.

"Is this our new friend?"

Mason turned around and finally noticed Toby. He looked a little bit scared. He nudged closer to Spencer and began to whine a little bit.

"My new friend, at least," Spencer said before picking up the five week-old puppy in her arms. "It's okay, Mason. I promise that he's really nice," she whispered into his still-floppy ears.

Toby sat on the floor in front of them and held out his hand to Mason. Mason (very reluctantly) sniffed him. Toby then went a step further and began to pet him. Mason was still a bit reluctant and pulled away.

Spencer was a bit confused. "She acted perfectly fine with me and Natalie, the volunteer we met there," she said. She was a little discouraged. She hoped that Mason could form some sort of bond with Toby. "I wonder what happened."

"Did Natalie tell you anything about why Mason was there?"

Spencer frowned. "She said someone brought him in after finding him tied up. It sounded pretty awful, so I didn't ask for any more details. And she said he was a bit…anxious around the other dogs."

After a few moments of calming him down and stroking him gently, she thought of something. "I have an idea. Come here, Toby," she said softly. "Maybe if he sees me with you, he'll be a little less scared. I mean…he seems to like me," she commented.

He laughed slightly. It was a bittersweet laugh. "Please, Spencer. He loves you already."

She could feel that little bit of longing in his tone. She put Mason down and Mason walked away from the two of them, especially away from Toby.

"Just hug me."

She hugged him and looked at Mason's reaction. Mason's tail was shaking. He started barking, but he was still shaking like a little Chihuahua.

"Is he getting…_protective _over me?" she asked. "Come here, Mason!" she called.

Mason stood still. He was still shaking and extremely scared to go anywhere near Toby. "Come here, boy!" she coaxed, her voice as sweet as she could possibly make it. Mason finally walked into her arms. She could feel just how much he was shaking.

Spencer stood up and held him, petting him very sweetly. She turned towards Toby. "Okay, try again," she said to him.

"I promise I won't hurt you," Toby said reassuringly before petting him. Mason whined a little at his touch, but as Toby began to pet him some more, he grew a little less timid. But he looked at Spencer anxiously.

"I promise that he's one giant teddy bear, Mason. He won't hurt you at all," she assured him. His little floppy ears stood a little taller, perking up at the sound of her voice. "He helped me after somebody hurt me, too."

Even though she was talking to Mason, she was looking at Toby.

They looked at each other for a long moment before she took a deep breath. "I was supposed to go to Melissa's baby shower tonight, but being as he's still not comfortable—"

"No, you need to go to her baby shower," he insisted. "She's your only sister. And that's going to be your niece."

"But Toby—"

"I'll take really good care of Mason," he promised. "Besides, the sooner he gets less scared of me, the more desensitized he'll be with his new owners."

* * *

Spencer was walking in her parents' huge house and could not have felt more out of place, even if it was the place she grew up in. Actually, more she thought about it, she _always _felt out of place in that house.

"Spencer!"

She saw her mother approach her with open arms. She didn't see Melissa anywhere.

"Hi, Mom," she said, reciprocating her hug. Gee, if only she had more of those when she was growing up. "Where's Melissa?"

"Everyone is in the barn. I was just coming in to get Melissa's present," she explained.

"Oh," was all Spencer could say. She wondered just how extravagant the present her mother got for her first grandchild was.

"What did you get her?" her mother inquired.

"I…um…"

She wasn't quite sure how to respond. She had gone to the store Melissa had registered at, but wasn't quite sure what to get her. She came home empty handed, and when Toby learned of where she had gone, he insisted on making a rocking chair for Melissa. She remembered how holding Cassidy while rocking in a rocking chair was the only way Aria got her to go to sleep for the first few months.

The only problem was that he started making it only a week ago. All he really had left to do was put a few finishing touches, paint it, and then coat it with a finish. In the meantime, all Spencer had gotten for Melissa was this very soft, hand-knitted blanket she had found in a small shop on the outskirts of Rosewood. Aria had almost bought it, but recalled that she had a similar one at home already.

"I got her this pretty blanket. But Toby and I had another present for her. He just has to finish making it," she told her a bit self-consciously.

"Oh."

It was pretty clear her mother wasn't all that impressed, not that it was surprising to Spencer. It was more frustrating than anything. Spencer hoped Melissa would appreciate it a little more. But then again…the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

* * *

"You're going to be really nice to Mason when you meet him, _right_, Pandora?" Toby asked as he stared at the small kitten. She didn't look very impressed as she sat curled up in their bed. "You're lucky you're cute," he concluded before exiting the room.

He walked downstairs and down the hall to the room they had agreed would be the room for the foster animals…for the time being, at least.

He opened the door to see Mason rolling around with some toys. He saw Toby and instantly became a bit anxious.

"What happened to you?" he asked softly, sitting down on the floor, trying to show Mason that he posed no threat. "Why are you so scared of me?" he asked.

The puppy stayed in the same position. Toby glanced at the time. "Spencer told me to feed you again at a quarter after seven," he commented absentmindedly. "Are you going to let me feed you?"

The puppy's piercing blue eyes looked filled with anguish and fright.

"I'm going to go get the formula she left me for you."

He wondered why he was talking to a puppy who likely couldn't understand him as he prepared the formula.

He brought it back into the room where Mason was. He was still sitting in the corner with the same scared look in his eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he promised as he inched closer to the puppy. He had to pet Mason and make him a little less tense before he could pick him up to bottle-feed him.

Mason very reluctantly began to drink from the bottle.

"You're just feeding him now?"

Toby turned and saw Spencer standing there. She was still wearing her jacket and had her shoes on.

He glanced at the clock and realized it was already eight. But still…the baby shower started at 6:30. She couldn't have stayed for very long.

"I've been trying to get him to eat this whole time. It took some coaxing to get him to relax," he said. It wasn't too easy to believe him, seeing as Mason was now happily sucking at the bottle.

Spencer smiled as she walked over to them and began to stroke him. "He's adorable," she commented.

"What happened to you? Why are you back to early?" he asked.

"It was kind of a mess. How soon do you think that rocking chair can be done?" she asked.

"I can have it done by…Wednesday, probably," he said after thinking. "Why?"

She sighed. "Everyone got Melissa really expensive gifts and all I had for her was a blanket. I told her I had another present for her but it wasn't ready," she said as she continued to pet the puppy. Mason had finished the bottle and Spencer put it aside.

"What did she say about that?"

Spencer thought about it for a moment. "She said she couldn't wait to see it, but I couldn't help but feel everyone else judging me for not bringing her gift or having it ready."

"As long as Melissa doesn't care, you shouldn't care, Spence. And I'm sure it's much better than everyone else's gifts," he promised before he put Mason down. Mason allowed him to pet him some more.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Are you saying that because you're the one who made the gift?" she inquired with a small smile.

He nodded. "And I'm not ashamed to admit that it's amazing."

That made her laugh some more. "Well, aren't you modest? Will you build me something?" she questioned. "Since, apparently, your creations are _amazing_."

"They are. And I really think Melissa will like her gift."

She nodded as she continued to pet Mason, who was quite happy to see her.

* * *

_**MizzIsTheFizz: **I actually really like the middle name Amelia! It sounds like something I could picture both Jason AND Aria naming their child. And Cassidy Amelia DiLaurentis has a nice ring to it. Thanks for the feedback!_

**_AL3110: _**_Well...I don't really want to corrupt Pandora's innocence. She's still a baby. And...this conversation just got really weird. _

**_Sarah:_**_If it were up to me, I'd stop the class consisting of mental abuse to humans, otherwise known as MATH. And yes, Spencer would make such a great mother (seeing as she's such a great aunt to Cassidy/mommy and foster mommy to Pandora and Mason). But she's not ready...not just yet. _

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_I was not aware when I created Pandora and Cassidy that I would be making the most beloved, adorable characters ever. So I'm glad you love her :)_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_I'm glad you like the talk of babies and I'm glad you think she's cute. _

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_To be completely honest, I have no idea how I started with fanfiction. An idea just came up and I wrote it down. That turned into a multi-chapter, twisty, angsty story. I really can't help at all with any ideas. Maybe find two books or movies or maybe even more and combine the ideas to make something cool and unique? I know my first story was like a cross of PLL at its finest and then some fanfictions I read about a Spoby child. And my second one was really a take on a very popular trope, so it's not too unique. When you get the idea (if you do multi-chapter) I STRONGLY ADVISE you plan out everything you're going to write and maybe even keep a whole document on the characters (like if it's not canon, maybe a little bio/facts about your character) and especially any original characters. It just makes everything more continuous and accurate. Lastly, one thing which I find to be most important, is make sure you use proper spelling and grammar. A good way to do this is write it first on word or any other app/add on similar to it which checks your writing for you. You may be surprised by how many readers get annoyed when you don't write with proper grammar/spelling. And I also strongly recommend Microsoft word because you can save your work. You'd be surprised by how many people lose their work as they type it on fanfiction. Those are my tips. _

**_mickeymack16:_**_I'm glad you found it, too, and I hope you like it!_

**_prettylittlespobyshipper: _**_I'm not sure if Cassidy really understands that Spencer and Toby are in love, but she can definitely recognize love when she sees it :)_

**_Spobyforever259:_**_Hmm...I don't know if I addressed it in this chapter, but wait for it. I think they've had Pandora for a few months by now. I know the timeline is never fully addressed, but Spencer and Toby got married in the end of September and Cassidy's birthday is near the end of the year/beginning of it. I'm not too sure. Even though it appears as though two events are close to one another because they're in the same chapter, they aren't necessarily so. Sorry, I don't think Hanna was in this chapter. But she's in the next one. I think. Yes, I think both Hanna AND Spencer should take the hints Cassidy is giving them. Thanks for the suggestion!_

**_Guest: _**_I'm sorry. I know I usually updated my last stories like two, three, maybe even four times a week, but I've been busy lately, and it'll probably only get worse with finals being in the not-so-distant future. ESPECIALLY considering I have to teach myself a whole years' worth of Biology. Fun times. But over the summer, it will possibly get more frequent. _

_So what do you think of Mason? Is he as cute as Pandora? Are you already choosing sides? Are you really sad that he's only a foster? Let me know. _

_And PSA from Kayson: please check out my one-shot collection, if you like my writing! I try to update like five or six times a week. And I'm trying with the whole one-shot thing. It's not working for me. But I tried. **-Kayson**_


	6. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: **It's me! I'm back!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"It's really beautiful."

Spencer stared at the cherry wood rocking chair which had just been covered in varnish. "I decided not to paint it after you showed me that picture of Melissa's nursery. I think it goes really well with the rose and ivory."

Spencer raised an eyebrow and looked at her husband. "You talked to Hanna, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "She said it would look nice in the nursery and that it's a nice palette with about fifty more words I didn't understand."

Spencer nodded. That sounded a bit more believable. "If Melissa doesn't like it, I'll have to steal it," she said.

"I can make an exact replica for when you're pregnant if that's what you want," he said.

She felt him kiss her forehead as she closed her eyes. "No, you can make me whatever you want. In fact, I think you'll probably furnish the baby's whole room," she said. "And you can make the artwork and everything else. And I can just watch."

"Spencer, I can't—"

"Oh, don't you dare say you can't paint! I have about fifty paintings around this house that look like they were painted by Manet or da Vinci or Matisse to prove you wrong."

He laughed. "I was going to say that I can't see you just sitting back and watching, but I'm glad to know you think of highly of my work as you do of Manet. He's your favorite, right?"

She shook my head. "Actually, I have a new favorite artist. You might know him. He's American and a contemporary of mine…I guess you could say. And he loves using the color red in his paintings. And he's very attractive. And—"

"I'm getting the impression that I should be worried about you and this favorite artist of yours. He's American _and _attractive _and _about the same age?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and I heard he even made a few paintings _just for me_."

He nodded. "I'm still better than him," he quipped.

She couldn't help but laugh. "We're both so mature."

* * *

"He seems to be doing well," the blonde commented as she watched Mason and another puppy run around the big open field Spencer and Toby had near their house.

"It's not other dogs we're really concerned about. It's people. He took to me like a fish in water, but he wouldn't go near Toby at all. He was shaking whenever Toby got too close. Now he's a bit friendlier towards him, but still very reluctant to go near him. And when my friend Aria and her daughter Cassidy came yesterday, he was eager to get to know them. So I don't know why he's so hesitant about Toby," Spencer disclosed.

Natalie thought about it for a moment. "If I recall correctly, the person who brought him in was a woman. But the volunteer she handed him over to was a male and the puppy was _extremely _scared to get anywhere near the volunteer," she said as she thought back.

"Do you think it could have to do with the fact that he's a male?" Spencer inquired.

"It could be. As unsettling as it may be, maybe because you bear a resemblance to his original owner, he's scared to get near you," she offered as she spoke to Toby.

Toby nodded. He was a bit upset, but didn't want it to show. Spencer put her hand over his.

"I think what we really just need to do is desensitize him. But aside from that, do you have any concerns?" she asked.

"Prying him away from Pandora when the time comes to adopt him?" Spencer added with a small smile.

Natalie smiled. "So he really likes your cat?" she inquired.

Toby smiled. "Pandora found her way into his room and we got home the other night from the store to find her sleeping on top of him. And sometimes they're cuddled up together in his bed," he told her.

"That's amazing. I'm glad he can get along with other animals. Now being as you guys probably now know him better than anyone else, maybe you'd like to take a look at some of the potential families for Mason?" she inquired as she took out a red folder.

They both nodded.

"James—one of the other volunteers—and I went to all of the houses for the people who expressed interest. We already weeded out the ones who don't have enough space or can't properly take care of him. We narrowed it down to four," she said as she took out the first round of papers.

"These are the Roses. They have three daughters, who are seventeen, eleven, and eleven. They have a set of twins. They have a huge chunk of land out in upstate Pennsylvania, about an hour away. Their house is beautiful. The mother owns a boutique, I think, and the father is a lawyer. They don't have any other animals," she said as she handed them the file. Attached were pictures of the house and the complete application.

"Next are the McIntyres. They adopted an twelve year-old son and a eleven year-old daughter. They live in New York, probably about an hour away from New York City. The mother is a stay-at-home mom and the father is a doctor. Their house probably isn't as big as the Roses, but it's a big lot of land," she commented as she handed Toby another file.

"These are The Jordans. They have twin girls who are both eleven. They have a Chocolate Lab. The mother is also a stay-at-home mom and the father works in global communications. They live in…Massachusetts." Spencer took that file.

"And last, but not least, these are the Andersens. They have one son who is thirteen, I think. The mother is so sweet. I think she's a nurse, and the father was a PR. Their son is also very sweet. Shy, but sweet. I don't think the father was there when I visited. His wife said he goes out of town a lot. They live around Philadelphia, not too far from here. They have a big fenced-in yard with a park nearby," Natalie explained.

* * *

They looked over all of the files as the dogs were playing for about twenty minutes.

"I think I like the Roses and the Andersens the most," Spencer said.

Toby nodded. "I think they're all great families. But I think I agree with Spencer, and maybe the Jordans as well," he said as he handed the applications back to Natalie.

"Honestly, I was a bit torn between the Roses and the Andersens," Natalie disclosed. "Why do you think the Roses?"

"I think that he'd have a ton of space to run around and play," Spencer answered. "And they have daughters. There would probably always be someone to take care of Mason."

"And the Andersens?"

Toby finally spoke. "I think it could help their son. And if his mother and he are as nice as you said they are, I'm sure Mason would be in good hands. And I'm sure they'd both benefit from it."

Spencer looked to Toby as he said it. She wondered if Toby wished he could have had a dog.

"I think I changed my mind. I think the Andersens are the perfect choice," Spencer said.

Natalie smiled. "Perfect! So we're all in consensus here?"

Spencer nodded as she looked at Mason getting tackled by the other little puppy. He was obviously having a lot of fun.

* * *

"So did you tell Toby yet?" Tiffany asked over the phone as Spencer prepared to brush Mason's thick coat.

Spencer sighed. "Tiffany—"

"Spencer! You have to tell him! I know my own husband and he would be _pissed _if I went to see my ex-_fiancée _without telling him. He'd be even more pissed if I didn't tell him right away."

"Well Shane is not Toby, Tiffany."

"Alright, maybe not. It doesn't make it _right _for you to keep it from him," she scolded.

"I'll tell him, Tiffany! But it's not a big deal. I don't know why you're freaking out. He's trying to get pregnant from someone else. It's not like he's actively pursuing me or anything," Spencer insisted.

Tiffany scoffed. "Yeah, you say that now…" she murmured.

"Bye," Spencer muttered before hanging up the phone. She was more than annoyed.

She looked down at Mason, who was standing and waiting for her on the bathroom counter. "What does she know anyway, Mason?" she inquired.

His little (still floppy) ears perked up at the sound of his name.

"I'm going to make you beautiful without the help of Hanna," she said as she took out a dog brush to begin combing his hair. "You have thick hair, right?"

Mason didn't answer, but looked at Spencer happily with his big blue eyes, his perfectly pink tongue sticking out. Spencer laughed and settled for the wire side of the brush, which was better for long-haired breeds. Mason began panting, his tongue sticking out, when she brushed the hair on his head. She began to laugh. "If you weren't scared of him, I think you'd be good friends with Toby! You're both so goofy," she commented as she began to brush his back. "You're really soft."

Spencer made him lie down as she began to brush his sides. As she reached closer to his tail, she noticed the skin under his fur felt different. Confused, she began to brush the hair away so she could get a better look at his skin. She was horrified when she saw what it was.

He had half-healed cuts all over his backside, his stomach, even some higher up on his back which she missed.

"Toby!"

Mason looked a bit alarmed by Spencer screaming. Spencer held Mason close to her and buried his muzzle into her chest, almost protectively.

"Spence? What happened?"

"Look at what someone did to Mason," she said sadly as she brushed some hair back so he could see. The puppy was also bruised around his backside.

"I'm scared I'm hurting him," she told him as she put the brush down.

He thought for a moment. "I think maybe we should just let him be for now. At least, until the wounds are all healed."

She just nodded and put the brush down. She picked up Mason, very carefully, and held him. "The poor baby," she murmured. Mason buried his face in her hair. He didn't seem to understand why she was so upset.

"Did Natalie tell you about this?" Toby asked as he brushed the black patches of fur back over the cuts.

She shook her head. "No. I mean, I figured that he was neglected; she said he was found tied up outside. She didn't give me any more details."

"Spencer…" he began, "I think you're scaring him. Maybe we could leave him alone and you could rest for a little bit."

Though she didn't want to let him go now, she had to agree. She reluctantly put him down.

* * *

She paced back and forth very nervously. This brought back familiar memories. Uneasy memories.

She took very staggered breaths. Waiting was—once again—like a lifetime.

She couldn't believe she was back here. She wasn't happy. Well…she was, _now_, at least. But she didn't want her life to change _yet again_. She was through with change she was just getting used to her new life. She liked how it was.

She thought she was over this.

Her subtle OCD and need for order and control could hinder this moment.

She kept trying to remind herself that it wasn't true. She was just acting weird lately; there was no need for panic.

So why was she freaking out? If everything was alright, surely, things would go as planned.

Time was up.

She frowned.

* * *

_**Sarah: **I don't really like cats, either, but Pandora is the exception. And Mo. But you don't know Mo. I'd take out bio in a heartbeat since I don't really like my teacher and I'd take out Geometry because it hurts my brain :) _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_It seems as though half my readers are named Sarah, lol. Thank you very much! I'll try and read it when I get the chance!_

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_Toby and Mason are bros. Totally. Mason is a cutie. Siberian Husky pups are cuties. _

**_MizzIsTheFizz:_**_I use weird names. I think the most normal names for OCs/OPs (Original Pets) I've used so far are Chloe and Cassidy. Glad you liked it!_

**_AL3110:_**_Jeez. AL, would you like to write this fanfiction? Because I see no "Sexy Cat" in the near future. Feel free to make a sister fanfic based on this OP of yours and my Pandora. I give you full rights. _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_I think I thought of that in the back of my mind when I wrote this. Gregg Sulkin is really adorable, right? I loved him (in WOWP and PLL). Um, wait for it. Yeah, the whole Mason being traumatized thing was supposed to show that idea that when animals (or people) are abused, they're' often very hesitant/scared among people who are similar to their abusers. So think that Mason's attacker is: male, tall (like Toby) and probably looks at least a little bit like him. I know! Melissa is the nicest one of them all. MELISSA. For crying out loud. Hanna will be around probably around Chapter 8-10 very frequently. I'm not really going to say why. It's kind of dramatic, but not really. _

_Alright, so as some of you may have noted from SOSC, I'm not too happy. But I saw something on Tumblr that made me very unhappy with fanfiction in general and writers in general. _

_Why, why, why, oh, why do people get so agitated by losing followers/author favourites? I honestly cannot comprehend it. I've lost Tumblr followers and story followers and favourites and had people say some not-nice things about me and my writing. But why do you have to dwell on it. _

_I told myself I wouldn't name names, but I honestly have to otherwise I'm being really vague. And I don't mean to pick on her; I really don't. I think she is a fabulous writer and she has a lot of fans. So if anything, I'll probably get reamed out for this. The post in particular I saw today was about Mama Spobette, AKA Bree. Now, I used to read her fanfictions. I don't get a lot of time to anymore. From my understanding, people send her hate and stuff. First off, that's immature, so if you're doing it, stop. And if you're going it on Anon, you're a coward, get over yourself, and like you can do better. _

_But that's not really what I'm getting at. I saw one her fans or friends (I don't really know) write a long rant about how people should stop unfollowing her on fanfiction and everything because she doesn't post anything anymore and she removed all her stories (and keep in mind, this was a FRIEND, not her). _

_I'd like to address that by saying that yes, she removed all her stories. That's her choice. If that's what she wants to do, you go girl. If I were to remove all my stories, that's my choice; it's not really anybody else's (including my readers') place to judge. _

_But I had her on my favourite author's list. I did and I removed her when her stories were taken down. Why? Because I started to, I guess...get disillusioned with her work and I wasn't really a fan anymore. That's my personal opinion. Her writing just isn't exactly my cup of tea. Aside from that, she removed all her stories. There's nothing there for me to like anymore. But that, my darlings, is MY CHOICE. Just like she had the choice to remove her stories, I have the choice to remove her from my favourite author's list. So I did. I wanted to. My choice. Some other people did, too, I guess, since people are getting so angry about it. _

_But there's something else that really bothers me, and again, I'm not picking on her. In fact, this is just a general note to everyone, especially all the very popular fanfiction writers; this has nothing to do with Bree. You should be very grateful for the followers you have. If someone unfollows you, it's not a big deal. You have other followers, ESPECIALLY all you other popular people with hundreds and hundreds of reviews and dozens of follows/favourites. There are people who post stories and have written like twenty chapters and gotten maybe ten reviews. You should be VERY fortunate and VERY grateful to have the amount of followers you have. I don't think I've ever, ever, ever threw a fit about someone unfollowing me or unfavouriting me. Guess what? That one person unfollowed me, but I have other people who read my stories. I like (most) of what I write. I have other reviewers. And honestly, when I'm asking for reviews, it's not me wanting that little number to go up next to the little speech bubble on my phone (which is where I read all the reviews). I honestly want to hear from you guys and know what you thought. I don't get ten reviews every time I update, but that's okay with me. I am just very, very grateful to have you all. It honestly bugs me when I feel like some people aren't as grateful to have you all. I'm very fortunate for every single person who took the time to read any of my stories, even if just one chapter, one paragraph, one sentence, even. _

_So I guess this was kind of like a rant but also me thanking you for reading in some weird, twisted way. _

_Oh, and if this is written off as hate IT IS NOT HATE. Okay? Let me be clear. This is not hate. I did not say anything in this post to insult, belittle, or demean her or any of her stories. It wasn't even me calling her ungrateful by any stretch of the word. In fact, I think that Mama Spobette/Bree is a very gracious, kind author to her viewers/readers and there are many fans of hers to attest to that. She just seems like a really nice person. But I really am sick and tired of seeing some other very popular writers on fanfiction act ungrateful for the followers they have. _

_Rant over. **-Kayson**_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note:** For the people concerned about the pets...I have a note! _

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Normally, we discourage giving pets table food, but I don't think this little will really hurt Mason," Natalie said as she took a small piece of chicken in her hand. She put it in her palm. "Let's just make sure Mason likes it, though you said he's been eating a ton, so I don't think he'll have a problem.

Natalie crouched down and placed her palm on the ground. Mason's ears perked up when he looked. He ran over and sniffed the meat before eating it. He looked disappointed when it was gone.

"Okay, now you try it, Toby," Natalie prompted.

Toby did exactly as Natalie had seconds ago. Mason was a bit more cautious around him, but eventually took the chicken just the same. He began licking Toby's palm when it was gone. Toby smiled and began to pet him. Mason even began to smile.

"Okay, Caleb. Try it," Natalie said.

"Dogs don't like me," he insisted.

"Oh, stop being a baby!" Hanna scolded. "Just do it."

Caleb sighed, but (slowly) did as he was told. Mason was even more hesitant with him, but eventually did the same. He also began licking Caleb's palm, to which Caleb began to laugh.

"Okay, maybe the three of us should leave the room and see how Mason handles himself with Toby and Caleb," Natalie suggested. Spencer and Hanna nodded in agreement. Before Toby and Caleb could protest, they were out of the room.

Suddenly, Mason got a bit timid again. But Toby came up with an idea. He took some more meat and held it out for Mason. He was much less reluctant to take it from him. And then, on a whim, he picked Mason up. He was shocked when Mason didn't react at all. Maybe he finally realized Toby wouldn't mistreat him.

* * *

Melissa gasped when Spencer opened the door to her baby's nursery. She immediately walked over to the chair.

"It's gorgeous! Where did you find this?" she asked as she ran her hand over the smooth wood.

Spencer smiled at Toby. "Toby made it," she answered proudly.

"You _made _it?" she inquired with pure shock.

"I used to be a carpenter before I graduated from college to become an architect. It actually helped me pay some of my tuition," he told her.

"We came up with it because when Aria had her daughter, the easiest way to get her to sleep was to rock her in the rocking chair," Spencer explained.

"I didn't even think of all the sleepless nights I might spend, but I guess if it helps, I'll have to be eternally grateful," she joked.

They were just glad Melissa liked the gift.

* * *

"Are you nervous for having the baby?" Spencer asked as she helped Melissa fold clothes.

Melissa thought about it for a minute. "I'm nervous…but I'm mostly excited. I feel like we'll finally be a complete family. It almost felt as though…some part of us was missing. I mean, some couples don't need or even want a child to complete them, but I felt like that would just complete us. I don't know if that makes any sense, but…" she trailed off.

"No, I get it." Spencer didn't really know how to feel about it, though.

"I don't know what I'm saying. I don't expect you to understand. You don't have a child and you and Toby seem to be perfectly content."

She was silent. "Yeah," she said quietly, though she wasn't so sure about it herself.

Melissa sighed as she put the last of the clothes in the laundry basket. "Thank you so much for helping me today, Spence. I really appreciate it, especially since my…baby is getting in the way," she joked.

Spencer smiled. "I'm your sister, Melissa. And that'll be my niece. You know that I'd do anything I can to help you out," she said before giving Melissa a hug.

"It means a lot to me," Melissa answered with a smile. "And will you meet me tomorrow for lunch, maybe?" she asked. "I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."

Spencer thought. "I'd love to, Melissa, but tomorrow is the day that Toby and I are meeting with the adoptive family for Mason."

"Oh, okay. Next week then?" she asked. "It's pretty important."

* * *

"I'm so nervous about letting Mason go," Spencer confessed as they drove to meet Natalie and the new family. "It's bittersweet. And I know that this is kind of what we got ourselves into when we signed up to be foster parents, but this is the first time."

"Mason is going to be in good hands. If the family is as nice as Natalie described them, I'm sure that Mason will love them," Toby assured her. "I'm happy to meet them."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "I know he'll be in good hands. Still. It's sad to see him go."

* * *

When they walked to the park with Mason close behind with his leash, Natalie was already there talking to a woman and a boy who looked a lot like her. They both assumed that they were the Andersens.

Mason wagged his tail happily, probably thinking that it was just another day at the park.

"…And there they are now!" Natalie said to the woman and her son as Toby and Spencer walked over with Mason. "Spencer, Toby, this is Alexis and her son, Alex," she introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Spencer said to them.

"And that's Mason," Natalie continued.

Mason had stopped wagging his tail and sat down near Spencer. He didn't show any obvious signs of being scared, but Spencer knew he was probably a bit apprehensive.

Toby pet Mason on the head. "He's just a little shy. But he's a very sweet dog once you get to know him," he said. Mason looked up at him and seemed to smile.

"Alex has been begging me for a dog for the longest time," the mother said with a smile.

"Obviously, this park is a great place to take Mason to run outside. And your yard is also great," Natalie said.

* * *

"…And this is our backyard," Alexis said as she showed Spencer and Toby the big closed-in backyard. They could picture Mason running around happily. It was a nice backyard with a lot of room for him to roam. "And Mason's bed is in Alex's room. I know he's a bit quiet about all of this, but I know how excited he is," she added.

Spencer and Toby both smiled at that. They peeked inside the house, where Natalie was talking to Alex, who was petting Mason. They were both confident it was a good match.

Five minutes later, they were back inside the house. Mason looked excited to see them again. He ran up and jumped to Spencer and Toby. They both kneeled down to say their last goodbyes.

"You're going to like it here," Toby promised.

"And we'll miss you, Mason. But you have a good family. Everyone made sure of it. And nobody is going to hurt you again," Spencer added with a small smile.

Out of the corner of her eye, Spencer spotted Alexis talking to her son quietly. She let go of Mason and he walked back over to them.

"I asked my mom and she said that you can come back to visit him whenever you want," Alex said finally and it was the first words that he said that day. Spencer could see that he was soft spoken. "And…I'm going to take really good care of him," he promised.

Spencer smiled slightly and nodded. "I know. That's why we wanted him to come here with you."

Alex smiled at that.

* * *

"Happy birthday!" Spencer exclaimed before she hugged Jason. "How old are you today?"

"Thirty...four," he answered with a small smile.

She looked behind him before closing the door. "Where's my bumblebee and my Aria?" she inquired.

"They're on their way. Aria said she needed to get something and that she'd be over soon. Is anyone else here?"

Spencer shook her head. "It's just me and you. Toby should be home in like half an hour. Hanna and Caleb should be here soon. So should Tiffany, Shane, Chloe, and Emily. But I'm kind of glad it's just you and me right now. I haven't talked to you alone in a while," she said. They had grown to be pretty close, but didn't get the chance to talk for a while. "How is work? How is life? How is everything?" she inquired.

"Work is fine. Life is okay. Everything is good."

She couldn't help but feel like that was a lie, though. "Are you sure? You don't sound it."

"Oh, um…" he began, "it's nothing really. I just…found out some things about my father and it's been on my mind a lot lately."

Spencer had known that Jason grew up with a sister and a single mother. As far as she knew, he had never known his father, and if he did, it was only for a brief visit or maybe the first few years of his life. And then, if he had met his father, it was insignificant and so brief that he couldn't even recall it with a faint memory.

She also knew his younger sister ran away with someone when she turned sixteen and he had only heard a little bit from her since she ran away. The last time he heard from her was about six or seven years ago. She knew his sister must have been about her age, so around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

"What happened?" she inquired calmly.

She saw a lump rise in his throat.

"I found him."

It turned deathly silent in the room.

"D-does your mother know?" she stuttered.

He shrugged. "She knows he's alive. But this whole time, he's been telling Alison and I that she was dead," he choked out.

Spencer felt horribly for Jason. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to think her father was dead her whole life. She put her hand on top of his.

The front door opened. It was Toby with Aria and Cassidy. Spencer and Jason both turned to face them.

"I hope you didn't miss us too much," Aria joked. It only took her a second to realize that they had come in at an odd time. She squinted her eyes. "Are you two okay?"

Spencer and Jason both nodded. "We're fine!" Spencer insisted a bit too eagerly.

At least, Spencer hoped so.

* * *

"So what was the deal with you and Jason?" Toby asked as he cleaned the dishes whilst Spencer poked her finger around Pandora.

Spencer shrugged. "Nothing much. He was just telling me about…things with him and Aria and Cassidy."

Toby stopped. Spencer noticed and turned to him. "Are they having any…problems?" he inquired timidly.

"What? No! No," she insisted. "He's just…a bit…upset that he's not around more often. He misses when Cassidy was a baby and he was around a lot more often. And he said that Aria's okay with it, but he doesn't feel the same…" she trailed off. She hoped he didn't mention it to Jason; that was a totally made-up story.

"Jason's a good father," Toby commented quietly. "Cassidy loves him a lot."

"Yeah, well…everyone is their own worst critic."

With that, Spencer picked up Pandora and brought her upstairs. Pandora began to purr.

Back downstairs, Toby wondered what was going on with Spencer. That was quite an unusual scene.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_My dog was from a breeder. I love her, but I kind of wished that we had adopted her from the shelter. _

**_Sarah:_**_Are you allergic? My parents both are, but I'm not :) Yay! They're cute. My cousins got two like two or three months ago, but I haven't seen them yet. I'm going to see them next weekend, though, so I'm pretty excited! _

**_MizzIsTheFizz:_**_Yes, and um...we'll see how that goes ;)_

**_spobylover1237:_**_Well, I'm glad it got to you in a good way! The poor babies. I just get really sad when I see those commercials when I'm eating dinner or something. Is it bad I feel worse for the dogs than the little kids? I think that makes me somewhat of a horrible person, but my mom and grandma feel the same way, so maybe not. _

**_Guest (littlespobette):_**_I don't have any huge plans for problems...yet. Maybe something will arise in the future. I'm not too sure how dramatic Spoby's life will get. I have a more angsty Spoby/Caleb fic in the works, so this one might just be fluffier than everything else. But thanks! And if you write it and upload it, tell me, and I will probably check it out (even if I don't review right away; I read a ton of Spoby fanfics). _

**_ilovetobycavanaugh:_**_He will, and you know I can't answer that!_

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_Hmm..._

**_arubagirl0926:_**_I'm sure it was a pretty rocking chair :) Thanks for reviewing. _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_People who hit animals...they're disgusting and there's a special place in hell for people like that. A certain quote about mockingbirds and blue jays comes to mind. Well...I don't think Andrew will interfere. I can't tell... :P It's okay. I understand. My brain is odd. I was born with extra connections and that's why I have synaesthesia (see, I did my bio project). _

**_AL3110:_**_Ugh, no. We are so not having this discussion about "Sexy Cat" again. _

**_spobypll98:_**_You were supposed to be confused. This is what I call "Stylistic Ambiguous Writing". I do it quite often. _

**_eveningshades1107:_**_ Here we go with my long as hell replies: Yes, but unfortunately, this story is not turning out as well as the prologue was. Thanks. And I actually got the idea of naming him Bourgeois because there's this kid in pretty much all my classes and he was in my math class last year. The guidance counselor (whose office is across the hall from the classroom I had math in last year) had a huge stuffed bunny and elephant. I named the elephant Peanuts and he named the rabbit Bourgeois. I didn't actually know what Bourgeois was until this year, but I thought it was a cool name that just rolls off the tongue. They're sufficient :) and I like Natalie! I really hope you like her. I am open to tips/suggestions. I think you all read into it waaaay too much. Aside from Mason being a poor little angel, there's really nothing to his abuse (except for an a-hole and coward who has a special place in hell with Satan...though Satan is better than them [even if he's...Satan]). _

**_mickeymack16:_**_Hmm...I can't tell. And yes, I'm always right :)_

**_prettylittlespobyshipper:_**_Thank you for the feedback and I addressed this a little in the note at the end. I will try to add a bit more Spoby, and I think it will be happening quite soon, actually. The first part is kind of hard, so the second one will be a lot less about pets (and a lot more about Spoby and you will find out why ;) ). And as you can see, I am adding in little bits of other people, particularly Jason (and Aria and Cassidy). And then Melissa, since she's having a baby (sorry if you don't like Melissa, but she's not really a bitch in this fic). _

**_Guest:_**_I'm trying not to make *everything* about the cats and dogs, and I personally don't feel like it is, but I hear you and I'll try. I've been getting a little lazy with this story, so I'll try to get a little better about the next few chapters. _

**_vondydora:_**_I cannot tell! You'll find out in a few chapters. And I think you guys are reading into this whole abuser thing. But that's okay. I read into everything on PLL, from what colour shirt Hanna is wearing to how many birds are in one particular shot, etc. And don't worry. Toby will find out. Can't tell you from who, but he will :) _

_Now onto another note..._

_There were quite a few people who seemed a bit concerned about this whole pets thing. And a lot of you, ironically, are very eager for kids and babies and oh my God, this is a lot to digest. But I really want to establish a foundation here. Spencer, as I've mentioned many, many, many, **many **times before, is not quite ready for children yet. Pets are really great for people who don't have children to have responsibility. I mean, a cat (or dog) is a living thing, kind of like another person. So Spencer and Toby being able to care for Pandora and a foster is great practice for when they do (hopefully) have a child. _

_But I do understand where you guys are coming from with Spencer/Toby/everyone else. I hope this chapter intrigued you (even if just a little) because this arc with Jason is going to be interesting. And Pregnant Melissa (can't tease too much about that, but you'll see her a bit more before this part is over)!_

_And I think you guys are going to be both very happy and very sad with Part II, as a little warning (but it's not for about another 4-5 chapters, I think). It'll get really emotional. Part IV is going to be even more emotional. Just warning you guys! _

_And my last question is...if I wrote a story, would you guys read it? I really need to know! Thank you! **-Kayson**_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Natalie had a bit of a somber expression on her face when Spencer and Toby went to the shelter that day. She looked a bit more stressed than usual.

"Is something wrong, Natalie?" Spencer inquired.

Natalie shrugged. "It's just…the shelter is getting so crowded. Some of the directors here said that if we can't get some of these animals adopted, we'll probably have to start putting them down." She frowned. "So I have one animal in particular I'd like to give to you guys. Her name is Lucy."

Without another word, Natalie exited the room. Spencer and Toby got up to follow her.

Natalie walked down the penultimate row of cages and about three cages down. There was a cat lying down in the corner. "Lucy!" Natalie called sweetly.

The cat turned and began walking to Natalie, who was there with open arms. It became apparent to them that Lucy was pregnant.

"She's pregnant?"

Natalie nodded. "When the director told me she needed to get a foster, you were the first people I thought of. She needs a calmer, less chaotic place to have her kittens and I know you'd both take great care of her," she insisted.

"Natalie, this might sound like an odd request, but…can we invite someone to stay with us? To help us take care of her? And do you know anything about delivering kittens, because I'm at a loss right now," Spencer explained.

"Well, when the time comes—and believe me, you'll know when the time is coming—you can always call me and I'll come and help. I don't have a lot of experience with delivering animals, but I've worked with kittens and puppies a bit more than you have and I _have _taken a course on it before," she told us. "I would be happy to help."

Spencer smiled as she looked down at the cat.

* * *

"Wow. She doesn't even look that pregnant."

Spencer gave Hanna a very skeptical look. "Really? She's not going to be offended if you say that she looks really pregnant. She's a cat," she informed Hanna.

"No, that's not it. When you told me she was pregnant, I just pictured her being like…really pregnant. But she kind of just looks like a fat cat," Hanna explained.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Excuse me. I didn't realize the distinction," she retorted.

"You don't need to be sarcastic all the time, Spence," Hanna fired back with a slight glare.

"Oh, but I do," Spencer answered.

Hanna rolled her eyes at Spencer. Spencer's phone began to beep. It was a message from Melissa's husband. Spencer's eyes widened when she saw the message.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed with a slight smile.

Hanna didn't pick that up; she was alarmed. "What? What's wrong?"

"I'm…I'm an aunt. Melissa is in the hospital," Spencer announced. "She just had her baby." She smiled. "I'm sorry, Han. I know we made plans to hang out, but I need to go see her and my new niece now," she said.

Hanna nodded in agreement. "Of course."

"Oh, can you please stay with Lucy? I don't really want to leave her alone and I don't know where Toby is or when he's coming home," Spencer added.

Hanna nodded, but Spencer was already halfway out the door.

* * *

Spencer walked down the sterile halls of the hospital in Philadelphia to find Melissa's room. She had been searching for five minutes and was ready to scream. She just wanted to find her sister and her new niece.

She finally found the room about a minute later. It was the room right next to the edge of the building.

She walked in cautiously. Melissa was lying down in the hospital bed. Spencer couldn't see her face, as she was turned towards the window, her back unknowingly towards Spencer. She groaned with a bit of pain.

"Melissa?" Spencer asked cautiously.

She rolled over to see Spencer. "Hey, Spence."

"Where's the baby?"

She groaned. "I don't know. The nurse told me she'd be back soon, but I don't know where they went. I…" she drifted off. She looked a bit odd.

A nurse walked in behind Spencer. Spencer turned to her. "Is there something wrong with my sister?"

The nurse bit her lip as she looked at Melissa. "It seems that she's having a rather…odd reaction to the epidural the doctors gave her. We needed to do an emergency C-section anyway, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone act like this."

"So…where is her daughter?"

"All the doctors and nurses are still giving her vaccinations and getting her cleaned up. She was only born about…forty-five minutes ago? Usually it doesn't take this long, but the hospital is oddly crowded with expecting parents," she explained before walking over to Melissa. She took her blood pressure again before walking out of the room.

Spencer walked over cautiously to Melissa's bed. "Hey. How do you feel?"

Melissa shrugged. She looked kind of tired and maybe even sad. "I just want to see my baby," she whined quietly.

"Yeah, I know, but the nurses are going to bring her in soon," Spencer promised her. She was trying to placate her sister, but…Melissa already looked pretty _subdued_.

* * *

"Toby…she's just about the cutest little girl I think I ever saw. Her name is Pamela and she has these really pretty, sapphire-colored eyes. And she's so good! I don't remember her crying at all yesterday. She just slept for most of the time I was there," Spencer explained as they walked into the hospital.

"Were you the only one there yesterday?" he inquired.

"Hmm…well, her husband came to see them and he stayed for like two or three hours, but he had to leave for this really important work meeting. My mother came because my father is in New York. She was there for probably two hours. I think other than that, though, I was the only one," she explained as she pressed the elevator button.

He nodded in response before stepping onto the empty elevator with her.

"She's so sweet. I think you'll love each other," Spencer said sweetly.

"It almost doesn't feel real that I'm her uncle now. Since we're _married_," he teased.

"Say it again?

"We're _married_," he repeated. It sounded so mellifluous to her ears.

She was about to kiss him before the door opened up and two nurses walked into the elevator with them. Instead, she took his hand and smiled at him.

When their floor came up, they quickly exited the elevator. As soon as the door closed, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Come on. Their room is this way."

* * *

When they walked in the room, Melissa was sitting up on the bed with her legs crossed. She had one hand on her daughter. Pamela was sleeping. She was swaddled in a peach-colored blanket and a rose-colored hat.

Melissa looked over at them and smiled. "Hey!" she greeted happily.

"You look especially happy today. Yesterday, you looked kind of like you were on drugs or something. You were completely out of it," Spencer commented as she hugged her sister hello.

"I was. Hi, Toby," she said with a smile. "And of course, I'm happy. I can finally see my legs and touch my feet for the first time in about three months."

Spencer smiled before going to look at Pamela.

"She's beautiful," Toby commented.

"Thank you," Melissa answered proudly. She watched as the two of them looked at their newborn niece. "I actually…I wanted to know if you would be her godparents."

The room was dead silent for a second before they both looked up with excitement in their eyes. "Really?" Spencer asked.

Melissa nodded. "I mean…her dad wanted his sister to be the godmother, but she lives so far away…and you're my only sib—" She quickly stopped and her face got a little paler. "You're my only _sister_," she amended, without Spencer ever noticing that she even slipped up. "I know that you'd take such great care of her. Both of you."

Spencer's fingers eventually found Toby's hand and they gave it a small squeeze. She wanted this. He nodded.

But he looked at Melissa. What was she just about to say?

* * *

Pandora was lying down on Toby's stomach as Spencer changed into her pajamas.

"I can't believe we're godparents. I mean…I can't believe I'm an aunt! And I can't believe I'm a wife! And Toby, I—"

"Yes, Spence, I know; you're talking at a million miles a minute," he teased.

She scoffed as she turned the light off in their closet and got into bed with him. Pandora immediately moved in between them.

"Sorry, Pandora. I need to scold your dad right now," Spencer said before picking her up and putting her on the ground. She meowed in annoyance before running off to the pile of Toby's sweatshirts that became her bed.

"Really, Spencer?"

She gave him a very annoyed look.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I know. Sarcasm and teasing is your thing, right?"

"Yes, and the sooner you learn that, the better," she told him before cuddling his side. He put his arm around her. "Okay, sorry. I overreacted," she apologized quickly. "But really, I hate it when anyone uses sarcasm. Aside from myself, of course."

"Yes, I can tell," he said before giving her a little kiss on the head. "And by the way, if she's anything like her mother, Pandora is going to be very annoyed with you for the next week or so. I've heard that Hastings can hold a grudge."

"Oh, but I'm not a Hastings anymore. Have you forgotten? I think my last name is Cavanaugh, so I don't know what you're talking about," she joked.

"Oh, right. Well, I've heard that Spencer _Cavanaugh _can hold a grudge."

"And who did you hear that from?"

"Her best friend who likes to go by Hanna Marin," he blurted.

She shook her head. "I could kill that girl..."

"No, Spence. Don't kill her. I need someone to tell me which shade of blue goes best with my eyes."

Spencer tried to suppress her laughter, but she couldn't hold it at all. She burst out in laughter. "You didn't just say that! Toby—"

"You're going to hold this over my head for the next five years, aren't you?" he inquired bleakly.

She nodded before kissing him on the cheek and turning off the lamp beside her. "Love you, too."

* * *

_Okay, so this was actually like my favourite chapter I wrote for this story so far. And I loved the scene at the end. So cute. Patting myself on the back for this. #ClapsForKayson_

_Also...I have no idea what to name Melissa's husband so if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. _

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_Thank you very much. Though, I really don't think my writing is all that great as I'm reading it over...but I'm glad you like it. I'm just extremely hyper-critical of myself. _

**_Kristinnmartin:_**_It's coming, eventually. _

**_MizzIsTheFizz:_**_Well, I'm glad you like it. I like having you as a reviewer. _

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_Alright, the truth comes out...next chapter? No, the chapter after that one (Chapter Nine). It's good, I think. I didn't write it yet. I think it'll be good. I'm trying to make it realistic. And yeah, Poor Jason and Poor Spencer...you'll find out why. Alex and Alexis (ha ha ha, so funny) are great. I wrote them for another story and they're sweethearts. Alexis is like an angel and Alex is...kind of like Toby, actually. Misunderstood and quiet to the point of almost brooding. So yeah, about S1 Toby. Gee, you know I can't answer that. You'll get to know in the next chapter. Some of you are going to be pissed at me, I can feel it, but I have a system going here. Just trust me. Sometimes you guys need to have a little more faith. I would never intentionally screw this all up. And since this is like a...idk, almost like a "What happens after..." kind of thing, I'm trying to establish how everyone is doing in this first part. The second part will be a lot more of exclusively Spoby. Happy? I hope so, because I need to make it through Part I before I get to Part II (it's over in...four chapters). _

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_Ugh, I can't wait, either. kind of sad Keegan's not coming back until 5x02, but...hopefully, it'll be a happy Spoby reunion. And sorry it took me a while to update. I've just been busy and personal crises and all. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_There's no specific "one thing" going on with her, so...there's that. But with last chapter, it was mostly just her being really uncomfortable and getting out of the situation. _

**_spobette-stelena: _**_They'll be perf as parents. And I think I may have started reading that...I don't know. If I did, I probably didn't review because I a) didn't finish it or b) was too lazy or c) it's still ongoing and I didn't want you to think I leave a review like every chapter because I don't because I'm rubbish at reviewing and being consistent. Then again, there are a ton of stories called "Safe Place to Land", so maybe I read a different one._

**_eveningshades1107:_**_Uh, yes, Spason is starting the secrets again. That reminds me of the PLL-Mean Girls trailer (because on Wednesdays we wear pink and this Wednesday was like the...520th Wednesday that they wore pink? IDK. Happy 10th anniversary, Mean Girls) that Jason was Damian and he was like, "That's why her hair is so big...it's full of secrets." I don't know where I'm going with this. Sorry. And I was really confused by the end. What? And also...we need to talk about Broadway. Because I saw like three shows and never talked to you about them. AND I went to Juniors and had their amazing hot chocolate/cheesecake (and oh my Jesus, their cheesecake was incredible. I was about to explode when we left). _

**_Spobyforever259:_**_Yeah, I wanted to make Melissa *nice* for once. And I feel like Spencer will need a big sis later on in this story. Hmm...I can't say anything about Alison and Jason, sorry. That's a secret that's going to stay under wraps for a while, so you'll have to be patient. And I haven't decided what to do with Chanel yet. She probably won't be in this part (since I'm almost through with it and there's no sign of her in these coming chapters), but maybe (just maybe) she'll bring on the drama and try to be a homewrecker later on in the story :) And then you'll all hate me. And actually, nope, I was talking about a book that I'm trying to write and get published outside of Fanfiction. But I will probably have a fanfic in the summer or maybe after the summer. I don't know yet. I'm working on it now and it's called "How to Be a Heartbreaker". It'll be like my first (technically) non-Spoby story. It'll be Haleb-centric with Spoby as like a sub couple. I like it so far. It's a lot edgier than what I usually write. _

**_Guest: _**_I'm so sorry it took me forever! I should have another chapter up next week (that is, if I can sit down and write it). _

**_AL3110: _**_AL, legit, no. And thanks for the input, but no way. No. And no, Alex and Alexis had nothing to do with Jade and Jaden Smith (funny though, right). And I SENT YOU A WHATCHAMACALLIT quote AND YOU DID NOT ANSWER! I WIN! But we can keep playing. _

**_Sarah: _**_Thank you! That means a lot!_

**_vondydora: _**_Thank you. I thought I made Jason and Spencer closer in the last few parts, but I guess not. So, they got closer. And thanks, I'm really glad you would read my stories. I love your reviews. _

_So...I'll just get right to it. There's this awards thing going on on Tumblr and they're nominating people in the Spoby fandom for a bunch of categories like "Best Spoby Blog", "Best Spoby URL" and there are these two categories I'd really love to be nominated for: "Best Spoby Writer" or "Best Spoby Fanfic." I already know I won't win (or I pretty much know), but to be nominated would make my...year. Like, it would mean the world, so if you like my stories and you like my writing...nominate me, please? It would mean the world. I'm thefaketeam on Tumblr, BTW, in case you ever need a PLL blog :)_

_And...I have to go because watching videos of people who are way better dancers than I could ever be (cough, cough, Brooke Hyland...Chloe Lukasiak...Mackenzie Ziegler...) ate up like my whole morning and I have to leave in like half an hour to go see my munchkins. Bye! **-Kayson**_


	9. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: **Whelp...now YOU guys are going to be salty...#SorryNotSorry_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

"So will you come or what?"

"Um…" the blonde looked around the coffee shop as she contemplated her decision. "Sure. Pandora and I are girlfriends and we can hang out and take care of the cat when you and Toby go on a date night or some shit," she answered tactlessly.

They exchanged a few more words before Hanna hung up. Emily and Tiffany came back with coffees. Well, Hanna and Emily had coffee. Tiffany had gotten a hot chocolate. Because…

"There's something I need to tell you guys," Tiffany said after a minute of feeling (and looking) anxious.

Emily and Hanna looked at her expectantly. Hanna was anxious.

"What's wrong?"

Tiffany let out a small sigh. "I think…I think I'm pregnant again."

It was deadly silent among the three of them.

"How…how long have you known?" Emily asked.

"Like…some number of weeks," she mumbled. "I don't…I haven't told Shane yet. I don't know how he's going to react. We agreed not to have any more kids for at least another year or when Chloe was like two, but…I guess I missed some pills and…I was going to take the morning after pill, but I was just so busy with Chloe and…how do I tell him?" she inquired, slightly frazzled. "What do I even do?"

They were both quiet for a few seconds. "You have to talk to him about it," Hanna said finally. "You can't keep that from him. _Especially _not that. It involves the both of you."

Tiffany just bit her lip. She looked very nervous.

* * *

Hanna looked up from her lazy position on the couch to the door as soon as she heard it open. Toby walked through.

"Hey, roomie," she greeted him.

He put down his keys before taking in her new nickname for him. "Roomie?"

She turned another page of the fashion magazine she was reading. "Yup. Did your wife tell you? I'm staying in the guest room until Lucy births or queens or has her baby or whatever you wanna call it," she said before taking a sip of the lemonade she had beside her. "Now I can make sure _all _your shirts complement your eyes."

The smirk on the blonde's lips didn't sit that well with him. "She really told you that?"

Hanna bit her lip to keep from bursting into laughter. His expression was just too priceless.

"I'm going to be a widower and we haven't even been married...six months," he decided. "I'll be a black widower."

She shook her head. "No, no. You can't just go make up idioms yourself. It doesn't work like that. Listen, Spencer is the book brains, I am the street brains, and you're just here to look pretty; hence, I make you look _especially_ pretty by choosing a nice shirt for you to wear."

He didn't look too amused. "Okay, where is she?"

"She said she had to meet with someone…parent? I don't know."

"Hanna, she's a college professor. I'm pretty sure they don't still have parent-teacher conferences in college."

She rolled her eyes slightly. "Fine. Maybe she's teaching a class. I forget, okay? Maybe she's having a meeting with the person who's in charge of whatever she does. What does she do anyway?" she inquired.

"Hanna, she…"

But after taking a look in Hanna's icy, confused eyes, he decided to give up. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced.

"I hope you have fun! I'll be here when you need to get dressed!"

* * *

"Help me bring the rest of the stuff in? It's on the front porch, Han."

Hanna got up quickly and slipped on her heels.

"Are you really wearing four-inch heels to go outside to get groceries?" Spencer questioned as she put the four or five bags she had on the counter.

"Hey, these heels are cute, they go with my outfit, and the porch is wet from the rain yesterday! And besides, what if some cute new neighbor or something passes by? I want to look my best!" she explained as she put her feet in those painful-looking, but still pretty heels.

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, what about Caleb?"

Hesitantly, Hanna shrugged. "Alright, so I'm off the market, but that doesn't mean I can't _tease_. Gee, Spence. I really can't figure out how you've been engaged _twice_ without even figuring this out. This is like Flirting 101," Hanna replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Sorry. I was probably better back in college and when I was flirting with Toby, I didn't even realize it. Evidently," she faux-apologized.

* * *

Once the groceries were all in the house and put away, Spencer turned to Hanna. "Okay, so two options. Either you invite Caleb over and we have like a double-date night or whatever or you go and visit him or Em or Aria and Jason and Cassidy because I will not have you third-wheel. I personally know how painfully awkward that is," Spencer proposed.

Hanna crossed her arms. "Depends. If I go, are you going to make this into an overnight thing? And if I stay, are you still going to make this into an overnight thing?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"Are you two going to…do _stuff _later or what? And if I stay here, is it going to interfere with my sleep? Because I need it."

Spencer was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know."

"Okay, enough said. I'm leaving. I'd be happy to help you cook, though. Or bake. Ooh, I actually prefer baking. I beat you at baking a cake for Cassidy."

Spencer arched her eyebrow again. "What?"

"Cassidy liked my cake better," Hanna sing-songed teasingly. "And so did Aria. Mine was better."

The brunette narrowed her eyes. But then she smiled. "So I guess it wouldn't matter that you now bake for everything, right?"

Hanna opened her mouth to reply, but then she clamped it shut again. "How is it that you, Spencer Ha—_Cavanaugh_, always manage to win?"

Spencer had a sly little smile on her lips. "Because it's in my DNA," she replied.

* * *

"Okay, so I'm…I'm definitely pregnant."

Tiffany looked skeptically and uneasily at Jason, Aria, and Shane. Chloe was asleep in her room and Cassidy was napping on the floor beside her crib.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Shane," she said, almost on the verge of tears.

He was silent for a moment, but then he shook his head. "No, Tiffany—"

"I should've been more careful with my birth control," she interrupted. She was insisting that she was at fault here.

"Tiffany," he interrupted more firmly. There was silence, and Jason and Aria took this as their cue to leave. Once they were out of the room, he continued. "Why are you upset?"

"Well…aren't you? I thought we agreed not to even discuss the topic of having kids until Chloe was like two years old," she answered meekly.

"Yeah, but…we're having another _baby _now. Shouldn't we be excited? Chloe is going to have a little brother or sister."

Thinking about it, Tiffany bit her lip.

* * *

In the hall, Aria and Jason were waiting for Tiffany and Shane to resolve whichever issue they were discussing.

"Have you spoken to Spencer?" Jason asked.

Aria looked over at him and realized for the first time that he looked _nervous_. "What was the deal with you and Spencer when Toby and I came over for your birthday?" she inquired.

"We were just talking about…my family situation."

Of course, Aria knew the whole story about Jason's family. It made her sad. She was glad her mother loved him so much and was so close to him, since she knew Jason was not that close with his own mother.

"What did you tell her?" she asked hesitantly.

He shrugged. "I told him that I found my dad."

Her eyes widened. "And did you tell her who it was?"

* * *

Spencer fixed the bunch of fresh, pristine, beautiful red roses she had gotten from the florist. They looked perfect on the table. At times like these, she was quite grateful for her OCD. The table looked gorgeous for a romantic dinner—if she did say so herself.

Just as she was taking the time to admire her work, her phone began to ring. She was quite surprised to see that it was Andrew. She answered the phone quickly. She couldn't lie; it was mostly out of curiosity.

"Hello? Andrew?"

"Spencer!"

She could sense the excitement in his voice. "What happened? Why are you so excited? What do you want now?" she asked as she took a seat on the stool at the island in the kitchen.

"I was just calling to tell you some good news," he answered cryptically.

She sighed. "Alright, so I _got that _by now. What's the good news? Just tell me!" she demanded.

"Valeria is pregnant."

Spencer was silent for a moment as she tried to process it. Then, a smile crossed her face. "Really? So where does that leave the two of you? Because she's certainly not just a surrogate anymore…"

"Well," he began, "we're not entirely sure yet. I mean…we're not getting married, or anything like that, but…now that we're emotionally connected in a way, I guess, and we've kind of been seeing each other…I guess we're going to have the baby together," he explained.

She couldn't help but smile. "That's great, Andrew. I'm really happy for you."

It was silent on the other end. "I'm really happy for you, too."

Something about those words coming from him made her so overjoyed. She was so happy to hear him say that.

Right behind her, the door opened. She realized it would be her husband.

"I have to go, but thank you so much for calling me to tell me that. I'm really happy for you," she said before hanging up shortly afterwards.

She looked over to the doorway and saw Toby walk in, just as she had expected. He looked pleasantly surprised and confused by the sight before him.

"What is this?"

"This," she began, "is my way of showing my appreciation for my husband. Are you going to keep questioning it or are you going to hurry up and join me for dinner?"

* * *

**_MilaMizz:_**_The baby kittens don't come yet, so I don't know what you're talking about. Thanks, but I already used the name Shane. That's Tiffany's husband. And Tyler...mmm...I have to think about that one. _

**_AL3110: _**_Oh, my God, NO. And I have no idea, but that's an...interesting quote. I don't know. I haven't even seen like half the episodes of DM. Lucy is the cat. Lucy. Lucy is a girl's name. Lucy is pregnant. Pandora does not even know Lucy. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!_

**_Guest: _**_Well...I've got stuff planned for Toby and Pamela in Part II...it'll be cute. I promise. _

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_I'm so glad that everyone seemed to like it! I put work and energy into that. I loved it after, and so did seemingly everyone else, so...I'll pat myself on the back. _

**_Sarah:_**_I used to do that all the time, but...it just makes me feel sadder to remember I still can't see them for almost a month...*sad face emoji*_

**_Guest:_**_:)_

**_ilovetobycavanaugh:_**_I've heard that rumour SO many times. To be quite honest, I would not even care if she said no if it were true. Just to get a Spoby proposal...that would be like...*dying*_

**_eveningshades1107:_**_I have no idea what just happened...and ooh, we're on Broadway. Alright, so in February, I saw Cinderella, which you already knew about, and we ate Chipotles. Yay. Then, in the end of March (day after my birthday, actually), we went to see Newsies and it was AMAZING. My favourite part was when one of the newsies (I forgot who) was like, "The world is your oyster" but he said "oyster" in a really weird way and he had to repeat it like three times before he said "The fancy clam with the pearl on the inside!" Classic. And we went to Ruby Tuesday's that day. And THEN we went to see...drumroll...WICKED. I almost cried like five times just from the thrill of being in the Gershwin Theatre where Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth once were. I was just like...ah. And we ate at Chipotles and it was like the best day ever. And like two weeks ago, we went to see Once, which was nice and all, but it made me super tired and I was kind of annoyed with the ending. But it was funny. And we went to Junior's. It was so good. I had cheesecake and the hot chocolate. It was good, but you never told me I could swim in it. To quote Aria, "I wanted to drink in it, not swim laps."_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I think that things will just get cuter from this point onwards. Hopefully :)_

**_vondydora:_**_I just...I don't know what babies are like, so I guess I just write them all so they're good. I don't know. I just do. And eh, I feel neutral about kids. Little kids are kind of annoying, but I'd really like to have a baby and then probably like a teenage daughter so I could talk to them...about life and stuff, basically, I guess. You live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, right? I just kept thinking about you all throughout history, since we're learning about World War I and apparently the Balkans conflict was a huge factor leading up to World War I and I was like...oh... :)_

**_Spobyforever259:_**_Lucy Hale was the first person to pop up in my mind, so I was like...Lucy. I'm home. And...I cannot comment on that. I actually chose Pamela because that name was the prettiest name closest to the meaning of Melissa's name since IDK what Pamela's dad's name is. Melissa's name means "honey bee" and Pamela's name means "honeyed". Yeah, she won't get killed. I'm fairly sure of it. I'd possibly off her and have her stay with Spencer and Toby, but...someone already did that. I know I read it in another story. I forget whose. Whatever. She's nice. She can live. And actually, funny you should say that, but in both of my stories (I kind of consider the whole Red Trilogy one story because in essence, they are), my favourite characters (besides Spencer and Toby [and Dianna and Analeigh in Forget Me Not], of course) are the evil ones who pretty much are kind of just...evil. I loved writing for Psycho Aria, Chanel, Wren in FMN, etc. Thanks. I think my writing still has a lot of room to grow, but...it's better than my friend who used the wrong kind of "your/you're" the other day. It made me want to cry!_

_I am going to attempt to update next week, but I make no promises. I literally just started Chapter Nine yesterday at about 10 PM. Plus, I have the Spring Concert Thursday and...Jesus, this is going to be a long-ass week..._

_I'm tired, so...bye. **-Kayson**_

_I know. EVERYONE is pregnant...except Spencer, the one person you want to be pregnant. Oops. I didn't get the memo. Sorry, guys, but I'm just...apathetic today. I can't. _


	10. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note:** I think I'm fine...I think I'm tough...and then...FINALS HAPPEN. _

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Twenty minutes of waiting later, Toby came down the stairs and sat at the table. Spencer, who was waiting at the table for him and sipping red wine, received a kiss on the cheek from him.

"What did you make?" he inquired. It wasn't extremely often that Spencer cooked, but when she did, he was often pleasantly surprised.

"It's a surprise, but you'll like it," she assured him. "But before that, I wanted to tell you something, and if you're unhappy, hopefully the dinner will smooth it over," she added softly before walking into the kitchen and getting another bottle of wine.

That made Toby a bit nervous. "Spencer…what's going on?"

She tapped her nails on the table nervously and there was a dramatic pause. "So…I told you about how Andrew wanted a baby, right?"

That instantly made him quite a bit nervous. "Yeah…"

"And you know how I set him up with a surrogate, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I've been speaking to him—"

"You've been speaking to him?" Alright, so she didn't actually think that he'd get nearly that upset; she didn't even think he'd get upset at all.

"Yes, but Toby, it doesn't mean anything. He's with Valeria. And besides…she's pregnant."

He stopped in his tracks. "She's _pregnant_?" he inquired with surprise.

She nodded. "He's really happy. I'm really happy for him. So see? You don't have to be _jealous_," she teased.

"Okay, maybe I _was _acting a bit ridiculous, but can you blame me? I love you so much and would hate to lose you," he confessed.

She smiled. "You're adorable."

He sighed. "I thought we all discussed words like 'cute' and 'adorable'."

"You're adorable. Don't try to fight it."

* * *

Pandora, Hanna, and Spencer watched as Lucy nervously walked back and forth, making occasional uncomforting noises.

"Is she queening or birthing or whatever?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I've never seen a pregnant cat before her, Hanna," Spencer said before getting up to put hers and Hanna's glasses in the sink.

"Should we call Natalie? She probably has more experience with this," Hanna suggested.

"Fine, call her. I'll be right back," Spencer said before slipping on her shoes and stepping outside.

Hanna was a bit confused, but shook it off quickly. "Okay, then…" she said before picking up Pandora, who had taken quite the liking to Hanna being her new BFF and roommate. Hanna pulled out her phone and dialed Natalie's phone number.

"Hey! Natalie! So glad you answered. Listen…Lucy is acting really…weird and Spencer and I think she might be in labor," she explained.

"Oh."

"We were hoping you know what to do, since neither of us really have much experience."

"Well…" The words came out of Natalie's mouth excruciatingly slowly. "First thing's first; did you and Spencer set up the box for her to queen?"

"Um…no?"

Natalie sighed. "Okay, so this isn't something I'll be able to guide you two through over the phone. Give me like forty minutes and I'll be over. But in the meantime, get a box and some clean towels and stuff and put it in someplace dark, like a closet. Queens or pregnant cats usually like being in someplace secluded and dark, kind of like a defense mechanism, so her kittens don't get hurt," Natalie explained.

"Hmm…okay. So it should be like a cardboard box?"

"Yeah, but cut it so Lucy can get in, obviously."

Hanna nodded as she began to rummage around for a cardboard box.

* * *

Lucy looked very uncomfortable.

"She's doing pretty well," Natalie commented. "Not that I'm a vet or anything, but from my experience, this is going pretty well."

Spencer and Hanna both looked nervously at Lucy.

"I called my friend Trent who is an _actual _vet and he said he'd be coming over soon to check up on her and make sure we're doing it right," Natalie explained. "How long has she been in labor?"

"Maybe…forty five minutes by now? A little more? An hour?" Hanna guessed.

"I'd say like an hour," Spencer confirmed.

Natalie looked a bit frustrated. "If she still hasn't given birth within the next hour, we really should go to the animal hospital. I don't know a ton about birthing, but I definitely know it's not healthy for the cat to be in labor for more than two hours with no kitten."

Spencer nodded.

"Now, do you have everything else? The kitten box? A heating pad? Antiseptic solution? Lots of towels? Gauze? Unwaxed floss?"

"Unwaxed floss? For what?" Hanna inquired.

"Tying off the umbilical cord! It keeps it from bleeding," she explained in response.

* * *

"The time of birth for this one is…2:37 PM. Got it, Hanna?" Natalie asked as she watched Lucy lick the first kitten clean. Hanna quickly wrote it down from outside the laundry room.

"Got it!"

"This one is female," Trent, Natalie's friend and vet, responded.

After the placenta for the kitten was delivered, Natalie and Trent tied off the umbilical cord and set the kitten down in the other box.

"The placenta came in at 2:39," Spencer commented as she gently placed the blue kitten down in the box and made sure it could breathe. Hanna noted it down.

* * *

Finally, about an hour and a half later, the fifth and final kitten was being delivered.

"This is the last one," Spencer commented.

It was born at 4:07, as Hanna noted. It was much smaller than all the other kittens.

"This one is male," Trent said.

Spencer carefully took him. He was a striped cat with grey and black fur. He was cute, despite looking completely and utterly helpless and vulnerable. She couldn't help but smile at him.

* * *

Spencer pet Lucy as the kittens were suckling. She couldn't help but get a bit annoyed at the four bigger kittens' avarice; they wouldn't let the littlest kitten get to the milk. She pouted. She was so annoyed that she hadn't even noticed when Toby entered the room.

"So these are the kittens?"

She nodded slowly.

"I missed the miracle of life?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did." She didn't mean it, really. She was just so tired.

"Gee, they're cute," he commented as he took the time to really look at them all. The first thing he noticed was that there were none which looked like Pandora. They were all either blue, grey, or striped (namely the runt). "Did you name them?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Natalie said it would be a good idea to let prospective parents name the kittens. I don't know, but for some reason, it's more…_appealing _when you get to name your own pet," she explained.

He nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense."

"Where is Pandora? I haven't seen her all day," Spencer answered quickly.

"She was upstairs when I was getting changed. I guess she didn't want to meet the new cats?"

Spencer shrugged in response. "Natalie and Trent said it might be better that way, considering that the kittens are deaf. They said a different scent could interfere with the bonding process or something like that. I don't know," she replied with a shrug.

"That's…interesting," he concluded.

They sat in silence for a while. Peace and the simple silence were comforting for them. Except for the occasional meow from a kitten or high-pitched squeal, it was just about silent for nearly thirty minutes. Yet, it was comfortable, like there was an unspoken understanding between them. Spencer liked that they didn't even need to say anything and they could still be comfortable around one another.

But that kitten was still bothering her. She quickly wriggled out of his embrace and ran out of the room to go get something. He felt like he was left high and dry for a moment. Confused, he just focused on the kittens and Lucy. Spencer came back not two minutes later with a bottle in her hand. After slipping on latex gloves, she quickly picked up the baby kitten and began to bottle feed it.

"I can't stand to watch this kitten get…_abused _by his brothers and sisters," she commented while looking at the kitten lovingly. "He's adorable."

"They're all adorable; they're kittens," he reminded her.

"Right, but this one is cuter. It's smaller," she insisted. "And I don't know. He's _different_. I can tell. And different is interesting," she concluded.

"Be careful not to smother him."

She hit him on the arm before holding the kitten again. "Lucy doesn't seem particularly interested in him," she said sadly. "Natalie warned me that this could happen. Can you please get me a hot water bottle, Toby?"

He came back a few minutes later with a hot water bottle and some towels. Pandora was walking behind him cautiously. Spencer hadn't seen her all day.

As she took care of the baby kitten, he couldn't help but stare. She looked so beautiful.

"You're going to make an amazing mother one day, you know that?"

She looked up at him with some lost look in her deep brown eyes. "No…"

"Yes. And a beautiful one, too," he told her.

She tried to contain the blush she felt rising onto her cheeks, but some pink had spilled its way to her cheeks. "Maybe we should let them get some rest," she said, avoiding the topic. She absolutely hated when he made her feel this way again—like a lovesick little girl who thought nobody would ever _really _love her. She couldn't even describe or explain why that made her feel this way, but it just did. Maybe it reminded her of Andrew, in some vague, inexplicable, abstract way.

"You're right," he said, walking away with Pandora in his arms.

"I'm going to take a shower before I come to bed. I've been dealing with cats and formula and afterbirth all day," she said.

"Alright, too much information, Spencer!"

She laughed. "Really? You just got through that annoyingly cheesy and sappy profession of how beautiful I am and now you don't even want to hear my day?" she teased.

"I do, but I don't really want to hear about afterbirth and umbilical cords and placenta," he retorted.

"You know that Lucy ate like three of the placentas, right?" she inquired.

He made a face as he picked up Pandora. "Please tell me you're joking."

She shook her head. "Nope. Apparently, it gives her back nutrients and stuff she needs after her pregnancy. I don't know. It was gross, but whatever. It's nature, I guess," she explained. "So now you know why I'm in desperate need of a shower."

"Would you mind if I maybe joined you?" he inquired teasingly.

She bit her lip with the faintest smile on her face. "I think we can work something out," she replied equally as provocatively.

* * *

_**arubagirl0926: **Hanna has the best one-liners, doesn't she? Thanks for reviewing!_

**_Sarah:_**_Glad you liked it! And it's alright. I'm ready to go to bed, too. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Jeez, it's coming! I promise! Hold your horses and your rabbits and whatever other animals you are in possession of! _

**_AL3110: _**_Oh, so you're like Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men? Interesting. Well, Glee is just not as good now that there's no Finn and soon, there won't be any Schue or Sue or Figgins or any of them. That takes most of the Glee out of Glee. Like, I don't know if you remember, but the pilot was mostly all about Finn and Schue. Like, do you know how mad I get when everyone is like "This is the Rachel Berry Show" because really, it's not! Rachel wasn't all that important in the pilot. Sure, she's like the resident diva, but she is not what glee is all about. it's about glee. And Finn and Schue put the glee in Glee. Sorry. I'm just pissed. Andrew is fine. I'm almost 99% sure of it. _

**_ilovetobycavanaugh:_**_Well, the only real Spoby in this chapter was the end (which was still cute). The next one has Spoby basically being parents, along with the addition of one new couple (!) and some tension between Spoby and another couple. And then the 11th chapter and the last chapter of this particular part of the story will be a lot of couple-y stuff and something else I'm not going to talk about at the moment. _

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_Oh, my God, everyone. I know you want Toby to get Spencer pregnant, but it will happen! Eventually! Just give me time! You cannot expect genius in one chapter. I need to do it right. _

**_Spobyforever259: _**_My favourite old shows are "The Nanny" and "Mister Ed" which admittedly weren't that old (well, Mister Ed was at least in black and white, so it looked really old), but they were from kind of before my time. Actually, Mister Ed was like before my mom, so I guess that makes it pretty old (not that my mom is old, but...well, I give up). Ugh, I can't with that. It makes me so mad. Especially 'your' and 'you're'. Like, if someone writes a sentence such as 'Your going to be so excited to see it' or whatever (lame sentence, I know), I want to yell. It makes me so mad. I just want everything to unfold and develop in the right way. I want it to have some integrity, you know? Do them justice? Ha, actually, it wasn't that good. I just tricked everyone into thinking that. it was kind of like he was an ass one day and the next he was nice and sad and everything, so that was pretty dumb and bad on my part. Umm...well, I liked Glee (operative word: LIKED), I like Bob's Burgers (best show ever), I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV (BGC, Dance Moms, Real Housewives [I watch Miami, OC, NYC, and then I'm going to watch the new London one which is basically Housewives by another name], Mob Wives, Kim of Queens, etc.), and then I like Switched At Birth (when I have time to watch it, which is never), Melissa &amp; Joey, Baby Daddy, and movies. A lot of movies. Mainly Lifetime movies. Oh, and I'm morbid, so I watch all those murder shows, too. Unless they show creepy pictures. And I don't mean like murder scenes. I mean pictures of people with black eyeshadow and mascara and stuff on so they look like raccoons and...I'm getting goosebumps thinking of it. But lately, mostly movies. _

**_spobylover1237:_**_Well, I kind of gave it to you this chapter. I don't know. I just don't feel like Toby would get really angry at her. He got annoyed, but it's not really like she truly did anything wrong. She just didn't say it. I mean, he really doesn't need to know EVERYTHING that happens to her. _

**_MilaMizz:_**_I feel like you keep asking me this question. No, I have not seen a single one of the Step Up movies. I think my friend Michelle has and she likes it (she's a dancer). Ditto. And I can just imagine what kind of trouble Spencer/Toby/Hanna can get themselves into. _

**_vondydora:_**_Well...Chloe is about...six or seven months old now? I'm not really too sure. I think it's about January/February and she was born in August/September...and I just liked saying during history class I knew someone from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was cool. Wait, what language do you speak, again? I know you said it before, but I can't remember. I'm just very curious :) Your English is pretty good for someone who hasn't used it since high school :) _

**_Guest:_**_Well, Anon, if you really want to know, you're going to get a long, winded explanation. To begin with, though it may not seem like it, I do have a life outside of fanfiction. I don't have friends, but I do, unfortunately, have a life. Second, one-shots, for the most part, are pretty terse and short and to the point. I don't really have to think of things that make sense or are really continuous with another part of a story because it's just a standalone one-shot. Most of my chapters are 1,500-3,000 words long, while my one-shots can be anywhere from 200-2,000 long. They're usually on the shorter side, as they're only typically like a page and a half to three pages on word, while my chapters are about six pages and usually longer. Third, most of my one-shots are prewritten, which means that I write like ten in a short span of time and have them ready so I don't actually write every day, I just upload one a day. For example, tonight I'm uploading #87 when I'm in the midst of writing #92. I'm actually pretty far behind on my one-shots. Fourth, I have a deadline for the one-shots to be completed, so those are really my priority while school is wrapping up and I still have a pretty limited amount of time which I can use to write. Fifth, for this story, I have to keep an endgame in mind and I can end up writing like three or four different versions of the same chapter before I get my completed version. If circumstances were different and I didn't have two other stories to juggle, PLUS finals, PLUS another out of FF, out of school project I'm working on, I probably would be updating every day, but I don't have that kind of time, and quite frankly, that's boring. Aside from that, I really don't know where this story is going (now it's gotten clearer, but I didn't know before), so it's hard to write when I don't know where I'm going. _

**_eveningshades1107: _**_Yeah, they are. People need to calm down when it comes to the Spencer getting preggers. It'll happen! We sing "For Good" every year at the Spring Concert as a tribute to the seniors. My choir teacher joked that it was called "Para Bueno" in Spanish and I'm just like..."...no." I so desperately want to sing "What Is This Feeling?" with someone. But as Glinda. Because she's just so pretentious yet so cute. I can't. Plus...Kristin Chenoweth. I was literally going to go into a sugar coma. I had hot chocolate AND chocolate cheesecake. And I have no regrets. _

_Alright, so I have to go, but really, please stop bugging me about the Spoby babies. It'll happen. Ferme la bouche. Just let it happen. **-Kayson**_


	11. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: **I finally got to update!_

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

"If this is what motherhood feels like, I think I'll pass for like five more years," Hanna said as she cradled one of the kittens and bottle-fed her. "What about you?" Hanna inquired, not realizing it was a bit of a sensitive topic for Spencer.

Spencer bit her lip as she cared for a different kitten. "Um…I don't know. We haven't really talked about kids yet," she lied.

Hanna was about to respond when there was a swift knocking at the door. Spencer couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief.

Spencer walked over to the door and opened it to Natalie. Natalie looked a bit out of it that day.

She walked in glumly.

"What's up with you?" Spencer inquired, taking in Natalie's obvious discomfort.

"Um…nothing. Nothing important, anyway. Don't worry about me," Natalie said, shaking it off. She clearly wasn't fine. "How are the kittens?"

"They seem to be growing bigger by the day," Hanna commented as the kitten stopped suckling from the bottle. "Lucy seems a bit out of it, though."

"Yeah, sometimes with first time queens, the whole process of birth and then feeding is a lot for them. I'm sure she'll get back to normal when the kittens wean themselves off of her milk entirely," Natalie assured them. "Where's Toby?" she inquired, changing the subject.

"Working. He's signing on some new project he's really excited about but he refuses to tell me about it," Spencer replied with a shrug.

"Is it another big surprise for you?" Hanna inquired teasingly before she put the kitten down.

"No, I don't think so. To be honest, I'm kind of glad he's gone. Not that I don't like hanging around him, but he hasn't been back to work in like three weeks because of the kittens," Spencer explained.

"Well, the good news is that they will probably be weaned in another few weeks and then…I guess we'll have to start looking for homes. They're beautiful kittens, though," she commented.

"Do you have any pets, Natalie?" Hanna asked.

Natalie was silent for a moment. "No, I don't," she answered quietly before going to find Lucy.

* * *

Spencer was cooking when she heard the door open. As she looked over, she saw that it was Toby with Emily. Emily was laughing at whatever Toby was saying.

"Hey, Spencer," she greeted.

Spencer smiled at her. "Hey, Em. Are you staying for dinner?" she inquired.

"Well…I don't want to intrude. You guys are probably going to be all romantic and cute later, so—"

"No, Hanna was going to stay over, but Caleb invited her for dinner at his place, and Natalie is going to be eating with us anyway."

"Is Natalie here?" Toby asked.

Spencer nodded. "She's hanging out with Lucy. I don't think you've ever met Natalie, Em."

Toby walked over to Spencer and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "How was your day?" he asked.

"Fine. Though I kind of want to kill Natalie. She's been singing the entire Rodgers + Hammerstein songbook along with some stuff from Wicked," Spencer explained as she continued to prepare dinner.

"Is she really that bad?" Toby inquired.

"No, she's actually very good, but when you hear 'No Good Deed' and 'Thank Goodness' for the thousandth time, you get kind of sick of it, even if it was Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth," Spencer replied.

At that moment, Natalie walked out of the door, humming quietly to 'Ten Minutes Ago' from Cinderella. She stopped when she saw Toby and Emily there.

"Natalie, this is our friend, Emily. I don't think you met her, right?" Spencer inquired as she washed her hands.

Natalie looked at Emily for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't think we've met before," she said before extending her hand. "I'm Natalie," she greeted.

"Emily."

Toby and Spencer couldn't help but feel the tension from all the way across the room.

"Em! You're into gardening and stuff. Want to come and see what Spencer and I are planning to do with the garden in the spring?" Toby interrupted.

"Uh…sure," Emily responded quietly before walking off with Toby.

Spencer raised her eyebrow when they left. "What was that all about?" she asked Natalie.

Natalie just shrugged. "Do I smell like I've been playing with cats all day?" she asked teasingly.

Spencer rolled her eyes at her. "You're welcome to take a shower if you're self-conscious. I promise that Emily doesn't bite," she assured Natalie. "If you want to take that shower, I suggest you do it soon, since we'll probably be eating in half an hour. I think you know where the towels are."

"Aye, aye, Mrs. Cavanaugh."

* * *

"Your garden is really gorgeous. I could see that rose garden being absolutely beautiful if you plant them kind of early," Emily said to Toby as they walked back inside the house.

Spencer put the food down on the table. Natalie was still nowhere to be found. The three of them sat down at the table, with the spot in between Toby and Spencer left for Natalie.

Natalie came down a moment later, her wavy blonde hair still a bit damp. She sat down a moment later. "Spencer, you're the best," she said with a little smile. Toby cleared his throat suggestively. "You, too, Toby. And just so we're not leaving anyone out, you, too, Emily."

Emily gave her a tiny smile. Spencer couldn't help but notice how she seemed to avoid Natalie's gaze.

"So…how was work today?" Spencer inquired.

"Fine. I had to go across town for a meeting with a new client and…some other things," he answered cryptically.

She was a bit unsettled by that. She would be sure to bring it up later.

"What about you, Em?" she asked as she turned to Emily.

"Oh…I didn't do much. It was pretty boring," Emily insisted.

Spencer didn't press the matter any further. There was odd silence for a moment before Natalie spoke up. "Thanks for letting me use your shower. It feels so great not to have cat hair all over me," she joked.

"Was it just me, or could you cut that tension between Emily and Natalie with a knife?" Spencer inquired as she sat in bed later that night. Toby was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Spencer invited Pandora to jump into bed with her, which she gladly accepted.

"Yeah. It was weird."

Spencer picked Pandora up and she meowed. "It was almost—dare I say—sexual. I could almost feel Emily undressing Natalie with her eyes," she said with a small laugh.

Toby came in a moment later and sat next to her. "I could tell she was trying not to look at Natalie, but I don't know about that," he replied.

Spencer gave him a very skeptical look.

"Besides, Natalie isn't even gay. Or bisexual. Or—"

"Alright, first of all, we _don_'_t _know, and second, it's extremely rare that a person is inclusively gay or inclusively straight. So maybe she's queer. Or uncertain. Or open to everything. Emily could turn her out," Spencer insisted.

"Maybe it's a better idea we don't meddle in their love lives. I know they did with the two of us—"

"And look at what happened," she interrupted with a smile. "We're happier than we've ever been in…well, ever, and now we're married with a baby." Pandora purred in agreement. "See? Even our baby agrees."

"Spencer…"

"Toby, I'm not saying anything is going to happen or that we should explicitly set them up, but maybe act as catalysts? It's not a bad idea," she sing-songed.

He shook his head. She sighed. "Alright, fine. But if we can't talk about the two of them, can we please talk about why you were acting weird at dinner? What happened today? I can tell something's off about you," she concluded.

"I don't know. I think…Jason's been acting weird around me. You know we work together; I'm the architect and he's the engineer and everything, but lately he's been very distant."

"Gee, are you going to go to marriage counseling now?" she joked.

Toby was unamused. "I'm serious. He can barely look at me. And if he can't even look at me, how the hell are we supposed to be partners in business?" he inquired. "I just don't know why he's changed all of a sudden…"

"Jason is dealing with some stuff now. Didn't you know that?" she inquired.

He shook his head with a confused expression.

"Oh, well…he found out some things about his father, so I can only imagine he's a bit stressed right now. Just take it easy on him? Please? He's going through a lot. I can only imagine…"

He stared at her for a moment before kissing her on the forehead. "Fine."

* * *

"The kittens are five weeks old today. I can't believe how much they've grown," Spencer thought aloud. "They're all so beautiful."

"Whatever cat Lucy hooked up with was obviously a hot one," Hanna said. Toby and Spencer both gave her an odd look. "What? Cats are probably just as selective as humans when it comes to whom they'd like to be the father of their children." Spencer shook her head. "Hey, you guys are just bitter because I'm right," she insisted.

"I'm laughing because you're ridiculous and I love you, Hanna," Spencer insisted. She picked up one of the little kittens. "Don't tell the others this, but I think he's my favorite. He's so cute," she said as she snuggled with him. The kitten let out a little tiny "mew".

"Should I be jealous, Spence?" Toby asked.

"Extremely."

"I bet you're going to end up keeping all of them," Hanna commented dismissively.

Spencer shook her head. "We can't, but if we could, I probably would," she replied before she let that particular kitten down.

"I think Pandora would hate them. And since we're girlfriends now, I'm on Team Pandora," Hanna added.

Spencer nodded. "Noted. Oh, Hanna, have you spoken to Aria or Jason?"

"No, not recently. Why?"

Spencer exchanged a look with Toby. He just shrugged. "We just noticed that they've been acting weird around the two of us," she answered seemingly nonchalantly.

"I'm sure you're just overthinking it. They're fine," Hanna replied dismissively. "I'm sure we would've noticed something was wrong if it was really important. And Cassidy is perfectly fine, as far as I'm concerned."

Spencer wasn't too convinced. That previous statement made by Hanna only made her more nervous; she hadn't even begun to consider the idea that there might've been something wrong with Cassidy.

Hanna sighed when she realized that Spencer was still paranoid. "Would you like me to call her?"

"Hanna—"

But it was too late. Hanna had already pulled out her phone and begun to call Aria. Spencer rolled her eyes. After a few rings, Aria picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Aria, could you please tell Spencer that you and Jason are fine and that there's nothing going on?"

As soon as Hanna finished the sentence, the line went dead. Aria had either hung up on them or lost connection, but Spencer would bet on the former.

"Aria?"

Spencer bit back an 'I told you so'.

Hanna put her phone away. "Alright, maybe there's something wrong. But how did you know? I mean, did you know anything else aside from that they were acting odd?"

Spencer considered telling her about Jason's. But then she realized that maybe Jason didn't want anyone else to know.

"No."

* * *

**_Sarah: _**_Thank you. Like, really, thank you. And I will try hard not to die. :)_

**_LittleBittyAbby:_**_That's not creepy. So what did you think of this chapter? _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm glad someone likes the kittens! I think they're cute. Things will eventually get less kitten-oriented, but for this first part, the kitties are kind of important. I'm glad fanfiction makes your day. It makes my day, too!_

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_It will happen. Slowly. and YES, my goodness, you just need to have some patience. _

**_AL3110: _**_I know. People are just like, "Well, he killed himself." Does that mean we shouldn't feel upset? Perhaps he was abusing drugs to mask his pain, as so many do. For some people, his character touched their lives. Why shouldn't they celebrate his life? He was very talented and it's infuriating to feel people belittle that because of the way he died. Ugh, people._

**_ilovetobycavanaugh: _**_Jeez, so much stuff is happening! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

**_spobypll98: _**_Thank you, Lovely! I'm glad you like this story and IT WILL HAPPEN. Have ye little faith...or something like that._

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I love that, too. Thanks for reviewing!_

**_vondydora:_**_And they spoke about it again! And your English is not so bad! It's better than the other language I supposedly speak: Spanish. My Spanish is horrid._

_So I'm typing extremely quietly to avoid getting caught. I'd love 11 reviews (hint, hint). I'm in the middle of the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take me another 2 weeks to update. I've just been extremely stressed and I want to give you guys quality writing! With my one-shots, it's like meh, one suckish day and it's over, but I don't want to screw this one up. _

_BTW, there will be a time jump in between Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 :) **-Kayson**_


	12. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note: **It's been like a year since my last update..._

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

_Knock_, _knock_, _knock_.

Spencer wasn't quite sure how she mustered up the courage to come to Aria's and Jason's house in the middle of the day.

A moment later, Aria opened the door. She seemed to be half-paying attention, but when she turned to Spencer, her smile faded.

"Are you really that unhappy to see me?"

Aria just stepped aside to let Spencer in the house. "We really need to talk, Aria," Spencer announced.

They walked into the living room of the house. Cassidy barely even took notice of Spencer; she was too busy tumbling from the couch onto the carpet and playing with her little blocks and teddy bear.

"Aria, what's going on? You can tell me. I just want to help. But I can't stand you and Jason not even being able to look me or my husband in the eye," Spencer told her.

Aria was very quiet for a few moments. "I just…Jason's father…he's been dealing with a lot and he doesn't want to talk about it," she disclosed.

"But then why are you icing me out?"

"I…I didn't know how to react. Jason feels awkward around the both of you. He's close to both of you and he knows I'm close to you…he didn't want anyone really to find out about it because he's kind of ashamed. And then there's always his sister…"

"What about his sister?" Spencer inquired curiously.

Aria sighed. "I really don't feel comfortable talking about this." Spencer gave Aria a pleading look and she sighed before complying with her wants. "Jason heard from his mother about Alison and he's concerned because she hasn't heard from her in months," she revealed.

"Why is that so concerning?"

"Well…it's not unusual that she doesn't talk to them for a few months, but it's been a long time. It's been over a year now since they've heard and they're both worried something happened to her. Though…there's not much they can do since they don't know where she lives or what she does or any way to actually contact her," Aria explained.

"How do they talk, then?" Spencer asked.

Aria shrugged. "P.O. boxes, I think. Jason said that his sister wanted to stay hidden and she always got what she wanted."

Spencer couldn't help but find that extremely creepy.

At that moment, Cassidy scurried in. Interrupting the tense moment, she ran over to Spencer. "Auntie! I missed you the most!"

* * *

"Thank you so much for watching the cats. Though, I think they'll probably be asleep for most of the time anyway," Hanna said as she slid her bag over her shoulder. "I just really want to catch up with Tiffany. I feel like I haven't seen her for months."

"That's fine, Hanna. I love animals. Remember?" she inquired.

"Right. Sometimes I forget. I love Pandora. And some of those cats, sometimes, but mainly Pandora. I don't do pigs or snakes or birds and I _definitely _don't do horses," she said as she fixed her hair in the mirror near the door.

Natalie just nodded, though she had no idea what that had to do with anything.

There was a knock at the door and Hanna rushed to get it.

"Natalie, this is Tiffany. Tiff, this is Natalie," Hanna introduced when she came back with Tiffany. The two of them shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," they said in unison before they all began to laugh a bit.

"So…I guess we'll be back in like two or three hours?" Hanna guessed. "I don't think you'll be here too terribly long. I don't know how long Spencer's errands are going to take."

"Hanna, I am fine. Just go!" she urged.

* * *

"So you all met Natalie because of the whole adoption and foster animal process? Or, that's how Spencer met her, right?" Tiffany inquired.

"Yeah. She's really cool."

"She's pretty. Is she dating anyone?" Tiffany asked.

"I don't know. I don't pry, Tiffany."

Tiffany couldn't help but snort at that one. "Yeah, right. And I'm a virgin. Hanna, you're not fooling anyone."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Alright, well, I didn't get that far. But I think that she's either bisexual, lesbian, or pansexual or something. She and Emily were totally having eye-sex the other day. And I would know. I had to watch Spencer and Toby do it for like the entire time Spencer was engaged to Andrew. And it was awkward," she told Tiffany.

"Maybe…we could give them a little push," Tiffany suggested.

Hanna thought of it for a moment. "You know what? That's actually…a really good idea, Tiff," she said. "Though, Spencer is going to flip her lid when we find out we're meddling in Emily's love life," she added.

"We don't have to tell Spencer. She's not Emily's keeper, or anything. We don't even have to tell Emily. We can send them both on a blind date with each other," Tiffany said with a smile.

Hanna smirked. "I knew I always liked you. But moving on…have you seen your doctor? Have you found anything out about the baby?" she asked.

Tiffany nodded. "Yeah…I actually…I'm about seven weeks pregnant. We're going to find out the sex soon…ish. I think. I don't remember when we can find out, but somewhat soon. We're both excited. I still can't believe my first trimester is going to be over in a few weeks," she said.

"Are you excited about this baby now?" the blonde inquired.

Tiffany didn't even hesitate before nodding. "Yeah, I am. I'm very excited."

* * *

Spencer was sitting at her husband's (she'd never tire of using that title for him) desk and waiting for him when the door to his private office swung open.

"Spencer? What are you doing here?"

She looked up to find him standing there, completely confused.

"I'm sorry. I never come to see you at work, but…I don't know. I just wanted to see you," she replied before getting up to greet him.

He held her for a moment before breaking away. "Is something wrong?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still really nervous about Jason. I went to their house today to ask Aria about him—"

"You drove all the way out there just to ask her how he was?"

"I had to!" she insisted. "I mean…she wasn't taking any of my calls and I felt weird just going to him and asking him about it…"

"Well…I'm leaving in five minutes. Do you want to go out?"

She smiled. "Sure. Actually, I'll meet you wherever you want to go. I have to get something from the store."

* * *

"Spencer still isn't home?" Hanna inquired as she and Tiffany walked into the house. "Damn. I thought she only took like half an hour to go shopping."

"I had fun taking care of the cats, anyway," Natalie said as she patted Lucy's head.

Hanna gave Natalie a very skeptical look. Tiffany walked into the room a moment later. "Spencer's not here?"

Hanna shook her head. "I wonder where she is."

The three women made their way over to the living room and sat. Finally, Hanna spoke up. "You're not seeing anyone, are you, Natalie?" she inquired.

Natalie furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you suggesting something? Are you and Caleb having problems? Because you're definitely not my type—"

"Is your type guys?" Tiffany inquired.

"Well…I don't…I don't know. I experimented in college. I just haven't really been in relationships for a while, so—"

"Who was the last person you dated? _When _was the last time you dated?" Hanna asked.

Natalie bit her lip trying to remember. "Probably…three years ago and it was a guy named Owen? I think that was the last time. I dated one girl in my life and we decided we were better as friends."

Hanna groaned. "Please, spare me the details of that dumb speech."

Tiffany rolled her eyes.

"So you would be open to anything?" Hanna inquired.

"Wait, what? Since when did I agree to this blind date?" Natalie asked.

"Since right this second. Come on, you're interested. Just do it. You'll like…_them_," Hanna insisted.

"As long as you're not planning a ménages toi..."

* * *

Spencer and Toby got home a little while later, long after Tiffany and Natalie had both gone. Hanna was already in her temporary room, getting ready for bed.

"We have to be really quiet," Spencer said as she closed the door behind her.

"Hanna won't care," Toby insisted before he kissed Spencer and pressed her back against the wall.

After a lingering, somewhat-intense kiss, Spencer moaned quietly and pulled away. "Can we at least move this to the bed? Lately, I've been scared of stepping on one of the kittens."

Toby rolled his eyes slightly with a wide smile on his face. "You and your motherly instinct."

"Hey, just because we're not having kids anytime soon doesn't mean I can't act like a concerned mother."

He laughed slightly before they both tumbled onto the bed in the darkness. Spencer let out a small squeal.

"I thought we were being quiet?"

"Oops." After a moment of careful consideration, she decided, "Screw being quiet."

* * *

She fell beside him on the bed and they both breathed out a heavy sigh. She reached for his hand.

In the near-darkness, there was a teeny "meow".

"Who was that?"

"A kitten."

"Which one?"

"Spence—"

Spencer leaned over the side of the bed, though, to find a little kitten pawing at the blanket (which, due to their lust for each other, ended up nearly off of the bed). She picked him up quickly and brought him to her chest. Through the dim moonlight, she was able to make out who it was. It was the little stripped male kitten she'd grown so fond of.

A moment later, Pandora had hopped onto the bed and crawled on top of Toby's chest. "Who is this?"

Spencer stared at him for a moment. "I don't know yet. He's the runt. All his brothers and sisters seem to push him off to the side," she explained as she snuggled him closer, in an almost defensive manner.

"Spencer…" he began cautiously.

"What?" she inquired innocently.

"Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You're thinking of adopting him."

Actually, the thought hadn't even occurred to her until he said it. But now, she was starting to consider it.

* * *

**_Sarah: _**_I honestly don't even remember what we were talking about. I'm sorry. But thanks for reviewing, Sarah!_

**_MizzFizzRizz: _**_The time jump will be after the next chapter. It'll move onto their 1st anniversary. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that, so...yeah. _

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_Oh, Lord...no, not Lorde. I don't like Lorde. Lord. _

**_Guest:_**_Ooh, it'll be very interesting. Believe me, it will. Thanks for reviewing! _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Well...I hope it was decent...it was probably mediocre...I'll try to be better next time. _

**_LittleBittyAbby:_**_Well, I'm glad someone liked it. I'm really more of a dog person myself, but I like cats, too. Nice cats. Fluffy cats. Not nasty cats. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I hope you enjoyed it!_

**_AL3110:_**_AL...stop. I think you don't even know how much of a genius you are sometimes. STOP IT WITH THIS FLIPPING CAT ALREADY. And really, quit while you're ahead. _

_And I have zero excuses for this. It's just...life and trying to finish like 120 more one-shots before November 6th. And a top secret project I hope to tell you all about by mid-August. Fingers crossed. _

_I'm working on Chapter 12 but I'm not even going to guess when it'll be done. _

_Bye!_

_Oh, and remember, after the next chapter, there's a time jump and that will be the end of Part I of Stay Stay Stay! **-Kayson**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note:** This is the last chapter of Part I. _

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

"Please, Toby?"

"Spencer, we just got Pandora. Besides, how do you know she'll even like him?" he asked.

"I do, okay! They hang out already. Besides…if we don't adopt him, maybe nobody will want him," she feared.

He scoffed. "Of _course _someone will want him. He's adorable," Toby insisted.

"Please, Toby?"

He looked over in her pleading brown eyes. He really could never say no to her. "We'll have to make sure that Pandora is okay with him being here," he replied finally.

Spencer was extremely pleased by that answer. She kissed him quickly as an expression of gratitude. "I already know Pandora loves him," she told him. "So when are we going to adopt him?"

"Not so fast, Spencer." Spencer pouted in response. "I want to see him and Pandora get along. And I want to spend some time with him, too."

"I promise you, you're going to love him," she assured him. Suddenly, she got a great idea. "Why don't the four of us spend the day together? You and Pandora can hang out with him. Besides, I know Hanna is hanging out with Aria and Tiffany, so the house will be relatively quiet. It'll be fun."

* * *

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"

"What, what, what, what?" Aria inquired, looking at her little bumblebee.

"Are you going to have another baby like Aunt Tiffany?" Cassidy asked. Her big hazel eyes looked pleading.

Aria tried to come up with an answer, but had no definite one, so she changed the subject. "Why don't you go find Bor and play with him?"

Cassidy didn't look amused. She crossed her slender arms over her tiny body. "Mommy, you didn't answer my question."

"Alright, you have been spending _way _too much time around Auntie Spencer. This is not a free household. I'm the dictator and I say go find Bourgeois and hang out with him."

Cassidy sighed. "Okay. I'll ask Daddy when he gets home."

And with that, she skipped off.

Aria frowned before she went back to the girls, who were sitting in the living room.

"We have an idea," Hanna announced.

"Oh no."

Ever since Hanna and Tiffany had reunited from their college days, everyone quickly realized that they were a quite mischievous duo.

"No, it's a good one; we promise," Tiffany insisted. Aria listened apprehensively. "Emily's been pretty lonely lately, so…we were just thinking of setting her up with someone."

Aria considered that. "That's actually…not a bad idea—"

"We're setting her up with Natalie," Hanna said.

"That's an awful idea."

"Why? Emily's lonely. Natalie hasn't dated anyone since…forever. The worst that could happen is the date goes badly," Hanna insisted.

Aria sighed. "I don't know…"

"I think they'll end up going on a second date. And a third. And a fourth, and a fifth and a—"

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself," Aria said, interrupting Tiffany.

"Well…I guess we'll find out, then," Hanna added with a small smile.

"What does that mean?" Aria inquired nervously.

"It means…they're going on their date tonight. I guess we'll find out what happens later."

* * *

Emily played with the hem of her dress nervously. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever been so anxious to meet anyone. She hadn't been on a date in years. Not since…Paige. She was sure she was over her, but she never really ended up going on dates. It just didn't seem like a priority or all that important to her. Besides, she had a lot going on with all the drama between Aria and Jason and Cassidy, then later with Spencer and Toby…and of course, then Tiffany and Shane.

But now, she was ready to be happy. And even if this date Tiffany and Hanna had set her up on was a total fluke, it was a step in the right direction. She was really just ready to find someone she felt comfortable sharing everything with. She saw how happy all her friends were with their significant others. She wanted that happiness, too.

"Emily?"

Emily looked up to see Natalie standing there. She looked even prettier than she had the previous night at Spencer and Toby's house. Her blonde hair was styled in loose waves, parted on the left. Her almond-shaped hazel-green eyes looked particularly green tonight, as she was wearing a pretty purple chiffon dress.

"Natalie? Are you here because of Hanna and Tiffany…?" she began, trailing off and hoping that Natalie would take the hint.

"Yeah, I just…I didn't think it would be _you_."

Emily felt a bit let down by that statement. Perhaps although Emily was clearly into Natalie, Natalie did not feel the same way about her.

"I mean…you seem great, but I really didn't expect that from them," she said. _Natalie _felt dumb because she was tripping over her own tongue.

"Neither was I," Emily replied tersely before Natalie took it as the opportunity to sit down.

* * *

Pandora play-fought with the cat Spencer wanted to adopt. He meowed loudly in response to her trampling him.

"Pandora!" Spencer scolded. She got Pandora off of him before picking the little kitten up. "Toby," she whined. "Please just say yes!"

Toby, who was sitting across from them and petting Pandora, was still skeptical. Pandora kept urging him to continue petting her.

Spencer held the kitten carefully before going over to Toby. She held the kitten up to Toby and the kitten anxiously began to sniff him.

"He's okay. I promise, he's a teddy bear; he won't hurt you," Spencer insisted to the kitten. The kitten cautiously took a step onto Toby's shoulder. He was still so tiny in comparison. He began to sniff around, his tail still shaking. He put his tiny paws on the side of Toby's head. Spencer had to laugh at the sight.

"Spencer."

"I'm sorry, Toby. He's just…he's so cute. And he already likes you. Besides, he may be your only hope of male companionship for a while. I still have Pandora," she insisted.

After a moment of silence, the kitten jumped off of Toby and trotted over to Pandora before snuggling up to her. Pandora's head dropped onto his back. It was adorable.

"Toby, how could you say no to that?" she inquired.

He sighed. "You really want this cat, don't you?"

"We already have Pandora. She's lonely. And it's not like I want to keep them all. Just this one kitten." A little smile crawled onto her face since she knew Toby had to say yes.

He sighed. "Fine. We should go get the papers tomorrow."

Spencer smiled brightly before kissing him on the cheek. "You're really the best  
husband anyone could ever ask for," she insisted. "I love you, so, so much."

"Not as much as I love you."

* * *

"So…let me get this straight. Your last date was four and a half years ago to a girl you dated for three years. But she was cheating on you half the time, anyway?" Natalie inquired.

"Pretty much. So, as you can see, I'm pretty bad at relationships and meeting new people," Emily said before taking a sip of her pink drink. "And what about you? Your last relationship was…?"

Natalie sighed. "A few years ago to some douche who just cared about sex. Lucky for me, though, I broke it off before we did anything. And thank God for that."

Emily smiled. This was the first time she felt like…this could go somewhere. She just had this overwhelmingly good feeling when she was around Natalie, as crazy as it sounded.

"Have you…ever been with a girl before?" Emily asked finally.

Natalie had this little glimmer in her green-hazel eyes. "Depends on what you mean by that."

Emily gave her a confused look.

Natalie bit her lip before adding, suggestively, "Romantically, no….sexually, yes."

Emily could feel herself getting chills from that.

"And what about you? Have you ever been with a guy?" she asked, more naively this time.

She nodded slightly in response. "I…my first two or three relationships were with guys. I've never been with one sexually, though."

Natalie smiled. "So…on a scale from 1 to 10 on how gay you are, you would be…?"

"Um…nine? Nine and a half? I don't know. I've never been asked that question," Emily answered after a moment of hesitation. "And you?"

Natalie shrugged. "Oh…probably like a 5. I feel like I'm right on the border," she said as she absentmindedly played with the sweetener packet on the table. "But if you asked me for what I felt like I needed right now, I'd probably tell you that I'm looking for a girl…who is roughly 90 to 95% a Sapphic goddess…with hair like a shampoo model," she teased.

Emily thanked God for her darker skin, or she was sure Natalie would be able to see her blush clear as day.

* * *

Spencer and Toby watched as Natalie began to hum some show tunes as she (slowly…very slowly) got the papers for them to adopt the kitten.

Natalie sat down and gave them the papers. "Alright, so…he'll need a name. What are you naming him?" she inquired.

"Mowgli," Spencer answered quickly. Toby looked at her in surprise. He knew she had a penchant for…_unique _names, but he never expected her to name the kitten something like that. She shrugged. "He looks like a Mowgli to me."

"Well, Mowgli it is," Natalie sing-songed.

A few minutes later, she cheerily declared, "Well, now he's all yours!"

Stepping outside, Spencer and Toby finally discussed Natalie's odd behavior.

"What was that?" Toby inquired.

"I have no clue. I mean, I want her to be happy as much as everyone else, but that was just kind of weird. I've never seen her like that before," Spencer commented.

* * *

"…And I will love you forever and ever and ever…"

Spencer stopped when she realized she had an audience. She settled with just holding Mowgli in her arms. He was quite content with being there.

Hanna and Tiffany (and consequently, Chloe) were sitting in the living room, giving Spencer odd looks.

Defensively, Spencer retorted, "If you guys had a cat as cute as Mowgli, you'd do the same exact thing."

Hanna shook her head and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Have you spoken to Natalie? I've called her like twenty times and she hasn't answered."

"Speaking of Natalie, do you know why she's so happy?" Spencer inquired innocently.

Hanna and Tiffany exchanged an excited smile.

"Oh, Lord, what did you two do this time?" she asked.

"The two of us—_cleverly_—set up Natalie and Emily on a date. They're both lonely and into girls. Why not?" Hanna said with a shrug.

"Really? Hanna, I practically expect that from you, but Tiffany? I thought you were better than that."

"I want Emily to be happy, Spence," Tiffany insisted. "And I think they'd make a very cute couple," she insisted.

Spencer sighed. "You two are too much sometimes," she said before putting Mowgli down.

"You're going to thank us one day when you get to plan the wedding," Hanna insisted.

"Yeah, because I'm really going to be grateful for a shitload of pictures of dresses and bouquets and flowers and God only knows how many invitations."

Tiffany narrowed her eyes. "Spencer."

"Alright, I'm happy for them, but you guys seriously need to stay out of people's love lives," Spencer reminded them.

"Need we remind _you _that the last time we meddled in someone's love life, they got married and now are very happy with a kitty family of their own?" Hanna inquired.

Spencer glared at her. "I hate it when you're right."

"Spencer, curb your nerves and your OCD for one day and celebrate. Emily is finally happy!" Hanna reminded her.

* * *

**_Sarah: _**_I haven't updated Enchanted in like...two or three months. I'm going to try and update on the anniversary of that story. It's so sad. I will have had that story for a year and barely finished even 10 chapters, I think. _

**_spobylover1237:_**_Well...I hope this chapter was to your liking :) I'm glad you liked it!_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_Thank you!_

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_You're reading too much into it. She went to the store to get a...potato or an onion or something idk. I hope you liked this chapter! _

**_Guest:_**_Aww, thank you! It's...okay, I guess. But I'm glad you liked it!_

**_AL3110: _**_I mean, I guess you can pretend you're Natalie, but I mean...she's based off of Sarah, so...that would be kind of hard. You can be Pandora instead. I mean, you're basically dating Hanna, so..._

**_MizzFizzRizz: _**_Well, I bet you're tickled pink right now. And that's unfortunate. I have my goofball of a dog at home. She's a cutie, but she's crazy. _

**_LittleBittyAbby:_**_Ha ha, what is sleep? I don't even know anymore. I love kittens. I love baby animals in general. They're just so cute. _

**_eveningshades1107:_**_So nice to have you back! I've really missed you, like a lot. It's kind of ridiculous. Ugh...I didn't' even think of that. That would just be absolute gold, wouldn't it? I'd love to do "What Is This Feeling?" as a duet with just about anyone. I'd want to be Glinda because...who doesn't want to be Kristin Chenoweth? Sounds like perfection. Oh, I didn't really think of that...My dog is my biggest (or maybe smallest) fan. IDK, whenever I'm singing, she kinda just looks at me like, "r u high or something?" I know! In a parallel universe where Jaria exists and is incredimazing, that would be my OT4. The only greater OT4 is Spencer/Hanna/Caleb/Toby because THAT WOULD BE PERFECTION. Speaking of which...the OT4 is going on a double date! Squeal! I like Sparia, but...I just wish spanna was more canon because they are truly perfection. Yeah...I don't know how to tell you this, but none of those were intentional...they kind of just...happened. Really, none of them (aside from the horses). I don't think anyone's sexuality defines them. I mean...it's literally, if you think about it, who someone prefers in bed. And most of those people who want to crucify a person for being gay/bisexual are the same people who would absolutely refuse to happen about anything that happens in the bedroom. It's ridiculous. Plus, they say that hardly anyone is exclusively straight or exclusively gay. Everyone's sexuality is a bit fluid in some way. Basically...if you've even ogled at someone for like a split second, you're at least a little bit gay. And what's wrong with that? Gay is happy! _

_Okay, I have to go!_

_Remember, time jump in part II to...you'll find out. IDK when I'll update. Maybe I'll keep you guys waiting ;)_

_Reviews are like ice cream on a hot summer day! Speaking of which...it's friggin hot! **-Kayson**_


	14. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note: **Don't say I never gave you guys anything! I think most of you will kind of be getting something you've wanted for quite some time! _

_And also remember, this one takes place after a time jump. I think you guys will have an easy time figuring out exactly what time it is..._

_Did someone request fluff, fluff, fluff, and more fluff?_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

Spencer awoke bright and early that morning. As soon as she remembered what day it was, she got up and smiled.

But as soon as she sat up, she realized that her husband—the very person she wanted to spend _every single second _of the day with today—was nowhere to be found.

Curious and a little bit anxious, she got up to investigate. She walked over to where Pandora and Mowgli slept. There was a single flower next to them. They were both fast asleep, curled into little bundles of fur.

She picked up the flower lying next to Pandora. It was one single red rose, and there was a note wrapped around the stem that she read with piqued interest. It said:

_I'm so sorry that I couldn't spend every second of today with you, but there was an urgent meeting I had to make this morning. Anyway, I should be back before 4:00. In the meantime, these are my first gifts to you. The red rose symbolizes passionate love and I'm passionately in love with you. Plus, it's a rose, and you can't go wrong with roses, right?_

Spencer had to laugh when she saw that. The rose did look beautiful. Next, she moved onto the flower in Mowgli's bed. It was a yellow tulip. This flower's note said:

_Yellow tulips symbolize being hopelessly—and sometimes blindly—in love. Maybe even a bit naïve? I don't know, exactly, but I know I'm hopelessly in love with you. And I thought Mowgli should have this flower since I know he's your baby and Hanna told me that he looks good with yellow._

She had to laugh again at that.

She finally looked down to her feet to see a bunch of rose and tulip petals leading out into the dining/living room. She followed them out with curiosity.

She walked into the main living room to see a bundle of holly flowers sitting on the coffee table perfectly (even he had to admit that her touch of OCD made for a beautiful picture). She picked it up.

_Hollies symbolize domestic happiness and I brought you here since this is the "living room". Aside from that, this is our favorite place to be in the house (besides our bedroom). _

She smiled before turning around to see an apple blossom placed perfectly on a pillow. She sat down to read this one.

_Lastly, this is the apple blossom. It symbolizes promise and I know that although forever seems like a really long time, I'd always make the same promise to you that I made a year ago. Do you know why I picked this very spot?_

She hadn't even realized she was crying until she unknowingly wiped away a tear. She thought for a moment before remembering. Of course, she remembered. How could she ever forget?

It was the very same place they promised to love each other until the end of time, just one year ago. Although the actual wedding ceremony had happened earlier that day, _that _was the moment which Spencer felt was most significant that entire day.

She was not planning on breaking that promise anytime soon.

* * *

Pandora sat, perched on a stool in the kitchen, and watched as Spencer attempted to follow a recipe her mother had given her. Mowgli watched from the floor.

Spencer glanced at the clock. She had about two more hours before he got home, assuming he'd be back at around 3:30.

Pandora meowed at Spencer.

"Would you like to read this recipe and cook for your daddy?" she inquired. Pandora just tilted her head at Spencer.

* * *

Not fifteen minutes after Spencer had put the dish in the oven to cook, the front door opened. Mowgli's ears immediately perked up and he jumped off of a chair in the living room to run to the door. Spencer couldn't help the ridiculously large smile on her face. Pandora leisurely followed her to the door.

"Toby? More flowers? Really?" she inquired as she spotted the bouquet of apple blossoms he had brought home for her. She kissed him on the cheek. "The last thing we need in this house is more flowers."

"They're symbolic, Spencer. Besides, I thought you loved flowers. And I love these flowers," he told her as he followed her into the kitchen, where she set the flowers aside.

She bit back a smile as she placed them in water and brought them to the dining room table. She turned around and quickly felt her back against the table.

"Toby—"

"You didn't really think that I wouldn't say 'Happy Anniversary' to you properly, did you?" he inquired.

Spencer smiled. "I thought you already did, Mr. 'I-Am-Sappier-Than-A-Hallmark-Card'," she retorted. "The flowers you left this morning?"

He shook his head. "Please, Spence. I was just getting started," he insisted before pecking her on the lips. "Come on. I wanted to show you some things I made for you," he told her as he dragged her upstairs.

They went upstairs and Spencer already knew where he was taking her. "What did you paint for me this time?"

He opened the door and encouraged her to walk in first. "I didn't just paint for you. Just look."

Spencer rolled her eyes slightly with a smile. Getting hung up on the technicalities…that was something Toby had acquired from Spencer.

She stopped when she looked around the entire room. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" she inquired breathlessly.

All around were paintings and photographs of little things; there were things they liked to do together, small objects or places that had significance, but above all, so many photos of Spencer. And then there were pictures of the both of them. Or pictures of Spencer with her friends. Or even photos of Spencer with their kitten family.

"I guess I really _am _your favorite subject, then," she murmured to herself.

"And this one is my absolute favorite picture," he said before going to find one piece in particular that he loved. He uncovered it and showed it to her.

She had to admit, she was quite confused when she first saw it. It looked like an impressionistic piece; the light and faces around the main figure were all blurred, but the subject of the painting was clear as day. Every shadow and highlight was just perfect, both in her dark chestnut-colored hair and in her beautiful red dress. Her porcelain skin was darker in all the right spots. Every angle and contour of her body looked realistic. It was almost _frightening _just how lifelike it really looked.

"It's gorgeous, but I don't know what it is," Spencer revealed a bit meekly.

He sighed. "I knew you wouldn't, which is exactly why I needed to show it to you in person. Do you at least know where it was?"

She looked at it for a few more seconds before shaking her head.

"This was at Tiffany's wedding. I just remember standing next to Emily and staring at you. I just knew the image would always be burned in my mind because you looked stunning, even just from the back. I just saw the little sparkle in your eyes whenever someone got up to dance and you'd watch them. Something just…clicked for me that day, I guess. If I had thought or known you'd say yes, I would've asked you to marry me right then and there."

Spencer stared at the painting in wonder. "That sounds like the most far-fetched, insane, wonderful, amazing…sweet story I've heard in a while. But…I don't look that good," she commented. The girl in the photo just looked so perfect.

"Well, you look that perfect to me," he told her. "But I really love this one because it's so different, but it kind of fits in with the other things I've made."

She smiled. "Well, I love it, so I don't care what anyone else says about this. It's perfect to me," she said before kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

"You're a lot quieter than I thought you'd be tonight."

Spencer looked up from the lasagna she was toying with on her plate. It came out much better than she had expected, but there was something else pressing on her mind.

"Toby…I know you've wanted a baby for a really, really long time…and…I think…I think I might finally be ready," she disclosed quietly. "I think I'm ready. That is, if you still want a baby."

He was completely silent for a few moments. "Can you pinch me? I think I'm dreaming."

Spencer swatted him playfully on the arm.

"Really, Spencer? I don't want you to feel—"

"No, this is what I feel. I feel like I'm really ready to have a baby with you. It's been long enough and I don't want my past to hinder my future." Spencer became a bit anxious that perhaps he was just trying to tell her something subtly. "Isn't this what you want?"

"Of course, Spencer," he answered without hesitation. "I just…I didn't want you to feel obligated for it." There were a few moments of shared silence where the only noise in the room was that of Mowgli and Pandora play-fighting with each other. "Did you take your pill today?"

There was a whisper of a smile on her face. "No, because…I was hoping that maybe, if all went well, we could start trying for that baby as soon as possible."

* * *

Spencer smiled into their kisses later that night. "I feel like this huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders," she disclosed with a small moan as he pressed her back up against the wall. He started kissing her everywhere he found skin. "Toby…"

His fingers reached out—roughly, she might add—for her silky red shirt (and of course, it was red; that was just _their _color). Just as soon as he had pulled it off and tossed it away, it had been forgotten about. She fumbled to find the hem of his shirt. She couldn't quite recall the last time things got this heated _this _quickly.

She pulled him over to the bed. They both fumbled to remove the remaining articles of clothing. Something about this felt so much more urgent than all those other times they had had sex before. Maybe it was the idea that this time in particular may cause the creation of another _human being_. That was a difficult thing to grasp.

* * *

Spencer rolled over on her side to face her husband. She pulled the sheets close to her chest. "What do you want, Toby?" she inquired softly, without any sense of urgency.

He was a bit confused by that question. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean, do you want a boy or a girl?" she asked.

"Um…I don't know. It never really mattered to me. Plus, I'd feel guilty saying one or the other. What if I said I wanted a girl and we ended up having a boy?"

She stared at him in amusement for a few moments before shaking her head slightly. "Sometimes, I wonder how you even survive in the real world. You're too nice."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are!" she exclaimed with a broad grin on her face. "I think…I don't know. I always wanted more than one child, so I guess I want both. I'd kind of like a boy first, though. It would be fun to see him protect her. Plus, then you'd get a little break from having to scare any boy that would want to date her; you'd have someone else to help you," she told him.

He shook his head. "Don't even make me think about that, Spence. I'm sure that if she looked just like you, she'd have a whole line of boys wanting to be her boyfriend; that scares me," he revealed.

"Everything is at least a _little _scary. But…we can handle it," she insisted before grabbing his hand.

"Together."

* * *

_I'm a little annoyed because I already responded to you all and then FanFiction decided to be a little biatch and delete it all. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I hope you liked the first chapter. _

**_Sarah:_**_Well, I suppose I must go and review on that, because I really like that story. It's great. And maybe Spencer would be a cat if she were another animal. Though, cats are kind of chill and Spencer's like the kind of person to freak out if her picture frame is a centimeter off where it should be, so maybe not. But Spencer would look so damn adorable with a cat. It makes me want for Toby to get a cat on the show and then Minin Allen (Keegan's cat) can portray him and they'll actually have a cat family. It would be so cute. This is what happens when Kayson gets one thought and it snowballs into this giant mess of...whatever this is. _

**_tobyequalshottness: _**_Ditto, for overthinking. Don't feel bad about it. I love Hanna/Tiffany mostly because if Hanna were to be real, I'd want to be best friends with her because I'm a little like Hanna. I hope you liked the Spoby in this chapter!_

**_LittleBittyAbby:_**_I'm sweating just thinking about it. _

**_MilaMizz:_**_Mowgli is like Pandora's adorable, annoying little brother (which makes him more adorable). Well...I guess I'm basically married to AL/Audrey, so...and I have no clue what that is. I'm sorry. _

**_AL3110:_**_I'll make you one. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to make the right one. I think maybe one in HTBAH? Or I actually think there's more opportunity to make a really great one in LHC. Alright, I'll make you older-Cassidy. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_As long as Emily is happy, that's all that matters, right?_

_I'd really love to get seven reviews before I put up the next chapter! And also, for anybody interested (since I need like 1 psa/self-promotion per update), I still have my one-shot collection, and I only have like three months left to do it. _

_As a little teaser for the next chapter, this is what's to come: a hospital, rain, and discussion of "fate" and her capricious ways. **-Kayson**_


	15. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note:** I thought you guys would've been a bit more skeptical about my little teasers. Hmm..._

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Natalie, that's the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. How the heck did you do this?" Spencer asked as she held the little sheep Natalie had knitted for the new baby.

"I used to take knitting and my mother had saved some patterns and I liked this one," Natalie explained. "I figured that it's not gender specific and sheep are pretty cute, so the baby might like it. Plus, it's super soft."

Tiffany smiled before taking the sheep herself. "That is very sweet, Natalie. I love it and I'm sure the baby will love it so long as he can cuddle with it."

"It's a boy? Did you just reveal the gender?" Natalie inquired.

Tiffany tapped her slight baby belly. "Hmm…no. I just have this feeling."

Once again, Tiffany's stomach had not gotten very big over the course of this pregnancy. Although it had troubled Shane the first time, he seemed not to be quite that concerned the second time around.

"When are you due?" Spencer asked.

"In about…two and a half weeks?" Tiffany guessed. "I'm kind of ready to not be pregnant anymore."

Spencer just stared at her stomach. What made her feel nothing really just a few short weeks ago now made her feel a bit…envious. Now, she wanted a baby, too.

"Your birthday is coming up!" Tiffany exclaimed, breaking Spencer out of her thoughts. "What are you doing, Natalie?"

Natalie shrugged. "Go out with Emily, maybe. I don't know. I just never really cared about my birthday. When I was younger, I liked them because all my relatives gave me money and I just started saving it. First for a wedding dress, then for college. I also had dog washes, so that got me some cash, too."

"Dog wash?" Spencer inquired.

"Yeah! It was like a car wash, but I washed people's dogs. I loved it so much. My cousin helped me and we'd wash everyone's dog. People loved it. And the dogs loved it, too. We only charged ten dollars, so it was a deal," Natalie answered nostalgically.

Tiffany was silent, but she was in clear pain.

"Are you okay?"

Tiffany remained silent for a moment. "I think I'm in labor."

* * *

"Your wife is in labor and she's in a lot of pain. You should just get down here as soon as possible," Spencer said as she paced nervously in the hallway. "Natalie's in there comforting her, but she said she really wants you here."

After Shane assured her that he'd be there in less than twenty minutes, she went to call Toby.

"Toby? I'm in the hospital."

"What? Are you okay?"

"What? Toby, calm down. _I'm _not in the hospital. I'm just…I'm physically in the hospital. Tiffany is the patient," Spencer explained.

"Is something wrong with the baby?" he inquired nervously.

Spencer shook her head fervently, before realizing that he couldn't see her. "No, no. She's having the baby. She's early, I know, but she's definitely in labor. I just wanted to tell you. Natalie's in there comforting her. I tried helping, but I realized I'm probably more helpful telling everyone than actually trying to help her…" she trailed off, a bit discouraged. "She's been in labor for like…an hour now, I think."

* * *

Four hours later, Spencer and Natalie were outside of the delivery room, along with Emily and Toby.

"She's been in labor for five hours now?" Emily inquired.

"Yeah, but didn't it take her a lot longer with Chloe?" Spencer asked.

"A lot longer," Toby answered.

Shane came out a few minutes later. "Would you like to meet the baby?" he asked. "The doctor said only two people can come in at a time. Spencer? Toby?"

Spencer got up eagerly and took Toby's hand. Although, truth be told, she was a bit envious, she was very excited to see the baby. She just wanted to see what it was like for a new mother. Then again, Tiffany already had a baby, but…she wanted to see what that bonding experience looked like again.

Tiffany was holding a baby boy in her arms. "Would you like to meet Damian?" she inquired.

Spencer smiled at the baby. His eyes were closed, but his finger was wrapped around his mother's pinkie finger.

"He's so precious," Spencer commented. The baby yawned a little.

"No quick ideas, Spence," Tiffany teased.

Spencer smiled, but that little part of her still wanted that baby. Of course, she'd never _steal _Tiffany and Shane's baby…she just wanted one of her own. Well, one of hers and Toby's flesh and blood.

* * *

By the time Spencer and Toby had gotten home, it had begun to pour. Just walking to the front door turned out to be a feat, as they had both been soaked. But by the time they had gotten through the door, they could barely keep their hands off of each other.

Unable to make their way to the bedroom, they'd settled for the living room. Spencer was eternally grateful that Mowgli and Pandora were nowhere to be seen.

Toby struggled to peel Spencer's dress off of her. After a few minutes of struggling, it had finally been taken off.

She similarly struggled with the buttons on his shirt. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath.

"Are you having trouble, Spence?" he inquired teasingly.

"No, just…"

She quickly ripped off the remaining buttons. "That's a lot better."

"Spence, I just got this shirt."

"And guess what? If we have a baby, I'm sure that shirt won't even matter to you," she said before attacking his lips again.

* * *

"He's so cute!" Hanna commented as she looked at Damian in the hospital. Tiffany was sitting up and eating, which she was extremely grateful for, as the only thing she could've eaten in labor was ice chips. "And Damian is such a cute name. Damian and Chloe. Adorable," Hanna added as she looked admiringly at the baby.

"Baby," Chloe said as she pointed to the new baby.

"Yes, Sweetheart. That's your little brother!" Tiffany sing-songed as she held Chloe's tiny hand. Chloe looked at the baby again.

"Baby," Chloe repeated.

Tiffany smiled and brought her daughter closer. She began to run her fingers through her daughter's short, light-brown hair. "Was it just me, or was Spencer ogling my baby before?" she inquired.

"No, not just you," Hanna said. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure. Can I have him when you're done with him?" she inquired.

Hanna nodded. "I think Spencer and Toby are going to have a baby soon," she announced.

"I would've told you that you're crazy a week ago, but from the way she acted today, I'd say I definitely see babies in the future for them," Tiffany replied with a little smile.

"Sorry, I can't imagine Spencer holding a baby," Caleb commented.

"Actually, she was pretty good with Cassidy. I never saw her with her son, but…I'm sure she was great with him, too," Hanna replied.

The room suddenly got extremely quiet. Nobody ever talked about Brandon. Sometimes, it was like he never even existed in the first place.

* * *

Mowgli jumped onto the bed and meowed, waking Spencer up. She picked him up gently. He liked being held like a little baby. And quite honestly, in the mindset she was in, she didn't mind.

She looked over her shoulder at Toby. He was lying down and Pandora was beside him. Her paw was in his face and you could hear her…snoring? It sounded like she was snoring quietly. It was cute.

"Aren't they cute, Mowgli? Don't you think your Daddy is going to be really cute with his baby? And I don't mean you and Pandora."

Mowgli was silent. He just cocked his head at Spencer. She smiled and held him closer. "I think he's going to make a great daddy."

She just pet Mowgli for a while more, just watching the two of them sleep. On occasion, Mowgli would get up to stretch his legs or climb up onto Spencer's shoulder.

She noticed Toby begin to stir after Mowgli made his way to the foot of the bed and began to stare at the three of them. His eyes opened a minute later and he realized the position he was in.

"This is odd."

Spencer laughed. "Yeah, I'd say so. Just be careful not to crush her, or anything. Does she always sleep next to you? Should I be jealous?" she teased.

"Yeah, you need to be jealous of a cat," he responded, taking a deep breath. Pandora began to move her arms in a cycling motion before rolling over and remaining asleep. With that being done, Toby was free to move around—so long as he didn't knock Pandora off of the bed, as she was hanging a bit precariously off the edge. He got up slowly.

"How long was she like that?" he asked.

I shrugged. "You two looked like that since I woke up like…thirty minutes."

"You sat here in silence for thirty minutes?"

"Well…I was talking to Mowgli and petting him…" she replied a bit meekly. "The both of you are so cute. And I didn't want to wake either of you."

It was quiet for a few minutes. Pandora had finally woken up and jumped off of the bed. Mowgli followed soon after. Pandora made her way to the closet, where she was no doubt perched on top of some of Toby's shirts—because that was Pandora's favorite pastime.

"Do you…do you think that I might get pregnant soon?" Spencer inquired.

Toby was quiet for a moment and looked at her in concern. "You don't have to stress yourself out over it, Spencer. It doesn't usually happen overnight."

"I know, but…I don't know. I feel like every week and even every day I'm not pregnant is time wasted."

He raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Spencer, if you're feeling this way—"

"No, wait," she interrupted. "Toby, I want to have more than one child, and I know you wouldn't mind having more than one. I know it gets harder and harder to conceive as you get older, especially after thirty-five. I'm going to be thirty this year."

"But Spencer, it's not your fault if this doesn't go our way right away. I just wanted you to know that," he said.

She nodded slightly. "But…I just want to have this baby now. Especially after holding Damian and Chloe and remembering what Cassidy was like when she was a baby. And just…seeing Cassidy grow up makes me want that. I just see how happy Shane and Tiffany and Jason and Aria are and—"

"We'll have that, Spencer. Someday. I believe in fate and I believe that when fate wants us to, we'll have a baby."

She frowned slightly. "Do you really believe in all that 'fate' crap?"

He had a slight smile. "I used to say the same thing. But then, I realized that there's something really important to me that happened which I can only contribute to fate."

Her interest was piqued. "Oh, really? What was that?"

"Meeting you," he answered without hesitation. "That's why I think that whenever fate wants us to have a child, it'll happen and it'll be right. It'll happen eventually, Spencer," he assured her. "I promise it'll happen."

Spencer hoped he wasn't (unknowingly) making a promise he couldn't keep.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!_

**_Sarah:_**_AGAIN?! Really? My life is shite, too, so we can commiserate together. My life is literally being ignored. By everyone. _

**_caitycaites: _**_Yes, she is! I hope you enjoyed that chapter!_

**_Guest: _**_I'm not that fast. I used to be, updating like every single day, but my muse is a little more fickle now. I'm glad you like it so much and thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much you've made me smile with that comment!_

**_Guest:_**_Happy you love it :)_

**_Kristinnmartin: _**_I think I made a lot of people happy and I'm glad you enjoyed it :) _

**_spobylover1237:_**_ I don't mind at all, and I totally understand your bi-polar reviewing (ha ha ha). I'm glad you reviewed on that chapter, though. I figured a lot of people would enjoy it, since I'm CONSTANTLY asked that question ALL THE DAMN TIME. Was this soon enough for you? _

**_MilaMizz:_**_Hmm...I don't know...I'm a big fan of writing angst...I don't quite understand, but alright, and I want one! I never have wifi anywhere. It sucks. Especially when I wanna update on Sundays (my mom's house doesn't have wifi). _

**_mrs-cavanaugh: _**_I'm glad you liked it! _

**_littlespobette: _**_I think everyone did. Glad you liked it!_

**_Guest:_**_Well...I think you'll get your wish soon, especially on Toby's end. You'll find out soon. I don't think this chapter was exactly what you'd think it was, but I hope you liked it! Thanks. _

**_Guest:_**_Is this AL? If not, I think the two of you should be soulmates because I really thought this was Audrey...No, don't be a drug addict. That's not good. Okay? I don't know how to respond to that since I'm confused. Well, I'm always confused, but I'm really confused by that. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Yup, they're ready for it! _

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_I hope you're satisfied! I know you were waiting for it ;)_

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_Thanks! You actually gave me a couple of ideas, so thank you. I'm glad you liked it!_

**_LittleBittyAbby:_**_I know you like cats. I think you'd be a cat. Just judging from your personality on here. idk, you just seem like you'd be a cat. Thanks for the review! _

_Teasers for the next chapter...double date, a birthday (it's a girl's birthday, so that's a little hint), and a pregnancy test. _

_I know I said it yesterday, and I'm almost scared to challenge you guys, since you gave me 16 (wow) reviews. Then again, I dropped something you guys wanted for a really long time...seven reviews for an update? Sound fair? _

_And also, I have a little poll on my profile for the story I'll be doing after this one and SOSC, along with some sneak peeks. You can vote for up to two stories, since I have the poll on my profile. I'm starting to develop some stuff, so I would **really **appreciate it if you guys would give me a little feedback or some suggestions on that. Thank you! **-Kayson**_


	16. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note: **It's the return of my brotp: Hanna x pink drink. _

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Are you ready, Toby?" Spencer inquired as she put on her earrings in front of the hallway mirror.

"Are _you_ ready, Spence?" Toby inquired as he walked out of their room.

She was pleasantly surprised at what she saw. "You look great," she complimented.

"Not so bad yourself," he teased.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Do you know this place that Hanna and Caleb wanted to meet us at?" she asked as she put on her lipstick.

"I know of it, but I've never been there. Jason said it's a nice restaurant, though. Sushi, I think."

She didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't hate sushi, but it wasn't her favorite.

"Hey, if they don't have anything good there, I would be perfectly happy stopping at a diner with you afterwards."

She couldn't help but smile before pecking him on the lips. "You're the sweetest," she replied.

* * *

Hanna was already sipping on her pink drink when Spencer and Toby arrived at the restaurant. Spencer sat across from Hanna whilst Toby sat across from Caleb.

"We were worried you weren't going to show up or something. You're five whole minutes late," Hanna commented. "Spencer is never late."

"Are we really late?!" Spencer inquired in a panic.

"Hanna is messing with you, Spencer," Caleb reassured her. Spencer shot a glare at Hanna, who laughed.

The four exchanged some stories, some (rather awful) jokes, and more.

Sometime after their dinner plates were taken away, Spencer finally spoke up.

She cleared her throat. "There's something Toby and I wanted to tell you," Spencer announced. Hanna and Caleb turned to her expectantly. Toby took her head under the table. "We're trying to have a baby."

Hanna and Caleb both feigned shock, though neither was surprised at all. They had known all along.

"That's amazing, Spencer!" Hanna said. Spencer nodded in agreement. "Have you already started trying?"

"Hanna," Caleb semi-scolded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, Caleb, when I was staying at their house, trust me; I heard _everything_," she revealed. "I'm still dreaming about the sound of those two moaning and their bedsprings before they got that new foam mattress."

"Hanna, I really didn't want to know that," Caleb answered. Both Spencer and Toby were turning red.

"Is it really some secret? I mean, I know you're not gay, but you have to at least appreciate how good looking Toby is. And Spencer is gorgeous. Flat-chested, but still gorgeous. And those legs! She has miles and miles of legs!" Hanna continued loudly.

"You know we're right here, Hanna?" Spencer inquired.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Spence, I'm not that much of a dumb blonde; I can _see _that you're here and I _know _you're not ghosts. But all that moaning could've convinced me otherwise."

* * *

"Toby, can we…go to the drugstore before we go home?" Spencer inquired.

"Sure. Is something wrong?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "I wanted to go get a pregnancy test."

He stared at her skeptically.

"Well, if I just so happen to be pregnant, our anniversary like two weeks ago; I could be pregnant and not have missed my period yet."

He nodded slightly, though he really didn't want to discuss periods with his wife.

* * *

Spencer read the instructions for the pregnancy test three or four times over. She knew how to use it. It wasn't very hard; all you had to do was pee on a stick and wait for like five minutes. Not hard. She was pretty sure a monkey could learn how to do that.

She finally took the test and set the timer on her phone for five minutes.

Those five minutes felt like the longest five minutes of her life.

What if all her fears were quelled and she turned out to be pregnant on this first try? She could only imagine just how happy Toby would be. He would be the most excited soon-to-be father anyone had ever seen.

But what if it was negative? What if they tried for what felt like an eternity, and to no avail? What if there was something wrong with her that meant that she couldn't carry a baby to term?

But the latter thought was quashed quite a bit; she had already managed to have another child and she carried him to term. She was probably fertile.

Her phone timer went off, interrupting all of her thoughts. She took a deep breath before looking down.

Negative.

She sighed. She was a bit frustrated by this result. Alright, she was _very _frustrated by the result. But there was nothing she could do about it except for try again. That was all they could really do. And most people didn't even get pregnant on the first try…right? This wasn't odd at all. It would happen. Soon.

Hopefully.

She walked outside, where Toby was waiting for her.

"Well?"

She shook her head. "It was negative."

"Oh," was all he could say. "I guess then that gives us more time to try," he said with a little smile.

"Want to start trying right now?" she inquired teasingly.

* * *

"What are you doing for Natalie's birthday?" Spencer asked Emily as she set her breakfast on the table. Toby was on a business trip, and in all honesty, she needed a small break from trying to make a baby, as she was getting terribly sore.

Emily shrugged as she took a sip of her orange juice. "I'm not sure yet. I want to make it special for her."

Spencer smiled in response. Emily was impressed. "Since when did you become Suzy Homemaker?"

Spencer shrugged. "I don't know. I guess…I don't know," she decided finally.

"Really, Spencer. Between the new garden and the cooking and the fact that your house is completely spotless and perfect—"

"Excuse me, it was always spotless and perfect," Spencer interrupted.

"—something is totally different about you," Emily continued, ignoring Spencer.

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know anymore, Emily. Ever since I stopped being a professor…I don't know what to do with my life anymore. Teaching at the college never felt permanent, either, but at least I was doing something. Now…I feel like I'm back to where I started. I don't know what to do," she confessed.

Emily was silent as she thought about it. "Maybe…after having this same discussion with your husband…maybe you can think about something you're really passionate in. Think about that before you start thinking about a job. Money isn't an issue for the both of you right now, so you have the freedom to just think about what you really want to do and to pursue it."

"That's really great advice, Emily," Spencer replied graciously. Emily smiled at her. "Alright, tell me about Natalie's birthday now," she said, changing the subject.

"She said she doesn't want anything, which I find really hard to believe. She's only turning twenty-nine. I thought she'd at least want a party or shoes or something," Emily said.

"Well…she's not Hanna."

"I know. Hanna at least gives you a definitive answer when you ask her something like this. Even if that answer is, 'I want those $1000 Manolo Blahniks,'" Emily retorted.

Spencer shrugged. "Maybe she really doesn't want anything special."

"But what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't do something special for her on her birthday?" Emily asked.

"You're such a good girlfriend. And I just love hearing you two refer to each other as girlfriends. And it just reminds me how Tiffany and Hanna are totally responsible for it," Spencer said before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Come to think of it, Hanna is responsible for 90% of your marriage, too," Emily commented.

"That's true. Maybe she's a sage. Or a relationship maharishi."

"Maha-what?"

"Never mind. Maybe Hanna knows what Natalie wants. She seems to be psychic, anyway."

* * *

"And you're sure she's going to like this?" Emily asked.

"Emily, girls all like looking for pretty dresses. You're a girl; don't you know that?" Hanna inquired.

"Yeah, but what is she going to say about—"

"This is my gift to her. You just get the things ready for her party, okay?" the blonde assured her.

Emily took a deep breath.

"Emily, calm down. Everything is going to go well. What are you planning, exactly, anyway?" Spencer asked.

"Well…first, we're going to have dinner together. Alone. And then, everyone is going to come over for dessert, because I feel like Natalie would want that."

"So are you going out or staying in for dinner?" Hanna inquired.

"Staying in. I'm getting takeout."

"So you can order for her?" Spencer asked.

Emily seemed unamused. "We've been to this place like twenty times. I know what she likes from there."

"Hmm. I can't trust Toby to order from the sushi restaurant for the both of us, because knowing him, he'd order me something with crab or something else that I hate," Spencer announced.

"Same with Caleb. We ordered from the Italian place on the corner and he got me a baby cow! How the hell was I supposed to eat a baby cow?" Hanna cried.

Emily stayed silent. "Okay, then." There was a pregnant pause before she spoke up again. "Alright, well…I'd better go before Natalie shows up."

Hanna and Spencer waved her off. Not even five minutes later, Natalie showed up for dress shopping.

"I feel like I'm getting married or something. Why are we making such a big deal about a dress?" Natalie asked as she greeted Hanna and Spencer.

"Because you're turning twenty-nine. I remember when I was twenty-nine…" Hanna trailed off.

"Hanna? You are twenty-nine."

"Oh, right!" Hanna exclaimed. "Well…oh, just try on some dresses Spencer and I picked out for you!"

* * *

Natalie must've tried on at least twenty dresses (Emily had all the time in the world to do whatever she wanted in her apartment by now) before she got the one.

"It's so pretty!" Spencer commented.

"This is not 'Say Yes to the Dress'; I am not getting married!" Natalie said as she stepped onto the viewing platform in front of the mirror. She examined the dress from all angles. It was a tighter dress that clung to her body, but was still flattering without looking too revealing. It was nude colored with a sparkly, sheer black material. It was also one-shouldered.

"I have these Christian Louboutin heels that would look perfect with them," Hanna commented. "They're red suede with gold studs all over them."

Natalie looked at her own plain black heels before shaking her head. "I couldn't pull off something like that."

"Yes, you can!" Hanna argued. "Just take the dress and I'll give you the heels."

* * *

"Wine before liquor makes you sicker. Hanna!" Spencer scolded.

"Spencer, calm down. I think you really need to get laid."

Spencer was unamused. "What do you _think _Toby and I have been doing to get pregnant?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. She was clearly already drunk. "Yeah, whatever," she grumbled.

Meanwhile, the birthday girl had been enjoying herself. She had met a few new people at the bar and, as the social butterfly she was, began to have fun with all of them.

"I'm glad that she liked her birthday," Emily commented as she and Spencer watched Natalie take another Jell-O shot and talk to some guy she met.

"You don't seem too happy," Spencer noted. "Are you jealous?"

Emily was quiet for a minute before she shrugged. "It's not that I'm not happy. I'm happy that she's happy. I don't know. I guess I kind of just…I feel like _I _wasn't the one to give her a happy birthday. It kind of makes me feel like a bad girlfriend."

"Emily, you are a great girlfriend. You love Natalie and you care more about her than you do about yourself, which in some ways, I guess is a little concerning—"

"Pragmatist."

"—but it's very cute and it's good to know that you care about her," Spencer continued, ignoring Emily. "Are you spending the night at her apartment?" she inquired suggestively.

"No; she's spending the night at mine," Emily answered with a small smile.

* * *

**_Guest:_**_ I'm glad you like Damian. He's going to be a sweetheart; I already know. Hoped you like this chapter! Sorry if you didn't get the answer you wanted!_

**_Guest:_**_Unfortunately, not the result anyone was hoping for. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!_

**_Guest:_**_Wait...oops, I had to delete my whole response to you because it spoiled everything. I thought I already revealed that, but I guess not. Spencer's mom appears soon...I think that's what I wrote in my outline. I can't remember at the moment. _

**_tobyequalshottness:_**_Everyone lies. It's just a fact of life. Whether it's a malignant lie or a little white lie...a lie is a lie is a lie and it just happens. _

**_Guest:_**_I'm glad you liked it! We'll see how it happens. I already know how the whole kid situation works out. I already have a very general idea of the entire course of the story, so just sit tight and trust me. I hope this was soon enough! _

**_littlespobette:_**_I'm hoping so. I'd like for it to get better...hopefully. Thank you!_

**_Sarah:_**_I guess I don't have it as bad. The last time I had friends (like real genuine actual friends) was probably 5th grade, and then the quasi-friends/very friendly acquaintances was probably 8th grade, though I have like two "friends" now. Other than that, I'm ignored by everyone in school. Fun. Did you just give me an idea?_

**_MilaMizz:_**_ Do you not like Spicy!Spoby? Umm...I guess?_

**_Guest:_**_Thank yewww :)_

**_Guest:_**_Luckily for you, this last segment of the trilogy is going to be very long (60+ chapters), so you don't have to say goodbye just yet. And I have a lot of ideas so this certainly won't be the last you'll be seeing of me. _

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_I think I'm going to keep with the teasers. I like it. Did I update quickly again this time? _

**_Kristinnmartin: _**_I hope you enjoyed this one (though I'm guessing most don't), but...who doesn't love Haleb/Spoby double dates and Hanna x pink drinks?_

**_spoby spoby and more spoby:_**_ You have no idea how much I liked your review. It made me smile (especially since I was really upset when I read it). I never plan on giving it up. Thank you for your kind words, though._

**_spobylover1237: _**_I'd definitely consider myself OCD about my work. I just want it to be absolutely perfect (though perfect is unattainable, I know). I do make the occasional mistake or two (once I find one I start flinching, ESPECIALLY spelling/grammar mistakes. Continuity doesn't bother me as much because...hello, PLL writers? But easy mistakes make me seethe). Thank you! And you were half right; Natalie's b-day and negative. Yup, you never know with me ;D_

**_Emilyjaden101: _**_In total honesty, I forgot I mentioned her birthday in the last chapter. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of that keek Keegan posted where Minin was sleeping with his paw in Keegan's face and he was snoring. It was really cute. Toby would be a wreck. _

**_AL3110:_**_Both of us are #ForeverAlone. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thanks. _

**_mrs-cavanaugh:_**_Hanna was a little tease in this chapter. And they're totally serious about it! I promise._

_Alright, so in the next chapter, expect: a Hastings Family conference (but not really, technically), a doctor's appointment, a bit of a fight, and maca. What is maca? You'll have to look it up to find out. _

_I'd really like 10 reviews, but you guys left me 18 (WOW!) last time, so I feel silly even saying this. Thank you so much for the support and I hope you're not too terribly mad at me. **-Kayson**_

_Do you know how annoying it is to have mosquito bites on your foot? Because I have two right now on my foot. It sucks, in case you were curious. _


	17. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note:** As to not disturb you guys, I'll fangirl in the next A/N :)_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

Spencer sat nervously in the office of her OB/GYN. The door creaked open and she looked up anxiously.

"Well, you're not pregnant," Dr. Reynolds informed her as she looked at her test results.

Spencer sighed in frustration. "I don't understand why it's so hard for us to conceive. We've been trying…probably every day and the last time I got pregnant, it probably only took one or two times before I got pregnant. And I wasn't even trying," she said.

Dr. Reynolds sat in front of Spencer. "Sometimes, when you try too much to have a child or when you have it most on your mind, it doesn't happen. Maybe you should try and relax. Don't try to conceive every second of every day."

Spencer felt a blush rising to her cheeks.

"You never know. Maybe, when you're not even trying, it'll happen," Dr. Reynolds said to her. "And if you're still trying and you can't get pregnant in a few months, maybe there really is something wrong. I don't usually prescribe spiritual and anecdotal solutions for medical problems, but maybe looking into some herbal remedies or something like that might help. But if three or four months pass with you trying to get pregnant and it doesn't work, maybe you should bring your husband in and we should all talk about it. After all, since you've gotten pregnant before with someone else, maybe it has more to do with your husband than you."

That was certainly not the answer Spencer wanted to hear.

* * *

"What is this?"

Spencer put a straw in her glass of smoothie. "It's a maca-chocolate-banana smoothie," she answered. "Do you want to try it?"

Toby just had a confused look on his face. "What is maca?"

"It's a Peruvian root plant that has a nutty flavor and helps boost your endocrine system, which in turn, helps improve fertility, according to WebMD," she answered.

"Spencer—"

"Toby, there's nothing wrong with doing something to increase our chances of getting pregnant," she said with a frown.

"I know, but I already told you that I don't want you to feel at fault if it doesn't happen," he insisted.

"Well, obviously, something isn't right. If it were anyone else, they would've already gotten pregnant by now," she said. "Toby, I'm not starting an argument over this right now," she answered before taking the drink and grabbing her bag, along with her keys.

"Where are you going?"

"Aria's. She wanted to talk to me about something anyway," she answered. And with that, she was out the door.

* * *

Spencer walked into Aria's house feeling a bit anxious. She'd never gotten into a rift like this with another friend or their entire family since…well, ever. It had never happened before. That scared Spencer.

"Spence, we're in here!" Aria called out.

Spencer followed the voice to the living room. Jason was also there. Cassidy was toddling about, not saying much. Even though she was three and a half and could understand their sentences, there was no way she'd ever be able to recall what they said, nor could she even understand what they were _really _saying.

She sat on the loveseat across from Jason and Aria. Jason looked totally uncomfortable. Aria looked concerned for her husband.

"Well…I guess I'll start. Spencer, Jason and I just want to tell you that us icing you out, if that's what you want to call it, has _nothing _to do with you; it wasn't a personal attack," Aria informed her.

Spencer laughed sardonically. "Really? Because it felt like a personal attack when you wouldn't answer my phone calls and hung up as soon as Hanna said I was also on the phone."

Aria sighed. "Spencer, we found out some…life-changing news and it involves you. That's why we didn't want to talk to you and we didn't know how to deal with it—"

"Your father is my father," Jason blurted.

Spencer was neutral for a moment before furrowing her eyebrows. "No, Jason, that's not possible—"

"It is, Spencer. I spoke to my mother and she told me everything. I even spoke to yo—our father," he corrected quickly.

Spencer shook her head. "I'm telling you that it's not possible, Jason. My sister Melissa is the same age as you."

"I know. It's pretty messed up if you really think about it," Jason replied mordantly. Well, there was that undeniable Hastings sarcasm and pragmatism.

"You're…you're my brother?" she inquired.

Jason nodded. He was clearly too numb to say anything more.

Spencer rose. She looked at him and, for the first time, saw the similarities. Even little mannerisms he had seemed to remind her of herself, her father, and Melissa. He was a Hastings, too.

"And your sister?" she inquired finally.

"She's your sister, too," he answered. "My mom told me everything."

Spencer started feeling sick. "And my—our father knew about you and your sister?" she asked.

He nodded. Spencer didn't want to hear that. She had never been close to her father, but she never viewed him as a _bad man_. And by that, she meant the type of man who saw no problem with abandoning his own children or living a double life willingly and unnecessarily.

"Does Alison know?" she asked.

"I haven't spoken to Alison in years," he said sadly. "I assume not, since neither of us had any way of knowing it was your dad…" he trailed off.

Spencer still had no idea how to feel about it. Yes, she didn't want to know, but she had another odd feeling. Some part of her was almost happy. She really liked Jason. It wasn't like she was extremely close to her father, either. And even if it was the straw that broke her parents' marriage, as sad as it was, it wouldn't really affect her now; she was out of the house, not at all dependent on them, and married.

And still, a little part of her felt betrayed for her mother. She couldn't believe her father would have the audacity to go and sleep with another woman when his own wife was pregnant. It disgusted her.

"Are you going to try and find Alison?"

"I wouldn't even know where to look, Spence," Jason answered.

Aria looked at Jason sadly. Cassidy was totally oblivious to everything.

"We're going to find her, Jason," Aria promised.

Jason didn't look that convinced, but didn't argue.

"Have you seen m—our father since you found out?" Spencer asked.

"No. I don't even know what I'd say to him. He knew this whole time."

It dawned upon Spencer that he did know the whole time. If he didn't know about Alison, he at least knew about Jason.

Suddenly, she felt sick. What if it had been her mother that was abandoned by her father and Jason's mother was the woman he married? What would've happened to her and Melissa? Would she have ended up like Alison and ran away?

Now, she wanted to find her half-sister. She just wanted to talk to her and meet her, even if only once. She wished there was some way she could find her.

* * *

Spencer was silent for the entire time she had been home. She was reading a book quietly on the porch.

"Spencer, are you mad at me?" Toby asked meekly.

"God, Toby! Not everything is about you!" she exclaimed before getting up and brushing past him. She walked into their bedroom and picked up Pandora. Toby followed her.

"Did I say something?"

She sighed as she pet Pandora. "No, I just…I feel sick," she said, changing the subject.

He stared for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "No, that's not it. What happened? Did you and Aria get into a fight?" he asked.

She shook her head. "After what happened, I kind of wished we did."

Toby sat down on the bed next to her. "What happened, Spence?"

She took a deep breath. "You know how Jason had a single mother and a sister and everything and never really met his father? Well, he found his father."

Toby nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"My father is his father."

It was totally silent aside from Pandora's purring.

"So you and Jason are half-siblings?" he inquired.

She nodded. "And apparently, his sister, Alison, is my half-sister, too. I just…I can't believe my dad hid it from us all these years. He didn't tell anyone. Not me, not my sister…I don't even know if he told my mother," she disclosed.

"Are you going to talk to him about it?"

She bit her lip. "Do you think I should?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Well, I don't know anything about family relationships because the last close family talk I had was with my mom, like seventeen years ago, before she died," he began, "but if I were you, I'd want to talk to my family about that."

She thought about it for a moment. He decided to change the subject. "So how was your maca or moca smoothie or whatever it was that you had this morning?"

She thought about that for a moment before narrowing her eyes at him. "Toby, if you're going to be a jerk about it, you might as well just leave," she warned.

"I was trying to ask you a question, Spencer!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she mumbled before leaning back on the bed.

After staring at her for a minute, he decided to give her some space. He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Spencer sighed. Pandora jumped onto her stomach and stared at her. Actually, Pandora didn't look that happy with her.

"I was overreacting, wasn't I, Pandora?" she asked.

Pandora meowed. Spencer sighed. "I know, but…I'm just under a lot of stress. I mean…I just want a baby and now with Jason being my brother and me having a sister that I never even knew about…" she trailed off. "What do I do to make it up to him?" she inquired. Pandora stared at her. "Sometimes I forget you can't answer me. I wonder what you'd say if you could." Pandora stretched out on Spencer's stomach. "I guess I should go apologize now, right?" Pandora meowed in agreement.

After a moment more of lying there, she sighed and got up, placing Pandora on the ground. She had no idea where Mowgli was.

"I'm sorry, Toby. I just…I didn't know how to deal with it," she said to Toby, who was drawing something at the table. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, too. I just…I want to get pregnant! And we've already had sex God-knows how many times," she commented. "I'm sorry. I'm just upset."

He nodded. "It's okay, Spencer. I get that you're dealing with a lot right now," he said, pulling her into a hug. "I love you, even when you throw me out of our bedroom and call me a jerk," he commented.

"You know, you don't have to—"

He cut her off with a kiss to the lips. She quickly melted into it. _Now _she remembered why she loved her husband so much.

"I love you, Toby," she said.

"I love you, too, Spence," he answered. "And really, the more stressed out you get over getting pregnant, the harder it's going to be," he reminded her.

She sighed. "You know, just when you were starting to—"

"I'm sorry. I'm just saying. I won't do it again," he assured him. "I just love you a lot and I'm a little concerned for you."

"I'll be fine," she promised.

* * *

_**Sarah: **Nobody is going to think that. I have my own ideas, believe me. You can stop freaking out now._

_**sarahschneider2012: **Really? I didn't know that. I had two on my leg when I was like seven that got so huge that I was in the hospital for like three days. They gave me an IV (if I remember correctly) and tied my arm to a clipboard so I wouldn't scratch (the needle was really itchy). It was awful. I wish I had advice. Hope you liked this chapter!_

_**Guest: **I'm really impressed that you read it all in four days. I'm glad you like it! I DESPISE mosquitoes. I'll try that. Usually, I use this really great spray (it's like an herbal thing, I think) and it works like magic and makes the bites cooler, too. But I'll try that!_

_**mrs-cavanaugh: **Yes! I'm dying for the haleb x spoby double date in 5x11. Thank you! _

_**spoby spoby and more spoby: **Thank you so much! I'm so glad you (and all my readers, hopefully) love this story. I can't believe I've been working on this AU for over a year now._

_**AL3110: **Aww I like you too._

_**littlespobette: **I didn't think it boosts your libido. I thought it just regulated your endocrine system (and in turn, your menstrual/ovarian cycle), making it easier to conceive. And...we'll see._

_**MilaMizz: **I especially hate mosquitoes because I'm allergic. I used to go to the ER a lot because of mosquito bites. Once, I was in the hospital for three days. I didn't know maca was a libido-booster, but I guess so. I don't think there's any other maca. :)_

_**Kristinnmartin: **Thanks! Glad you liked the double-date!_

_**Emilyjayden101: **Oh, don't worry about it. Hope you liked this chapter! _

_**spobylover1237: **I DON'T EVEN KNOW. And I have one on my heel now. Ugh. Maybe she can't have a baby... And yes, Hanna has #NoFilter_

_**arubagirl0926: **Thanks._

_***SPOILER* **Can you believe we're going to see Toby Cavanaugh as a police officer? I swear to God, if he becomes one of Rosewood's many corrupt cops...I'm going to riot. And also, Aria was a total bitch in this episode. Sorry, Aria fans. She was AWFUL to Hanna tonight!_

_End spoilers. _

_Alright, so teasers for next chapter. I only have two (sorry, guys!) but I think they're pretty juicy. The first one: Spencer goes to her parents' house and confrontations ensue. Second one: Toby goes out drinking. And we all remember what happened the last time Toby went out drinking. _

_I'd really like another 10 reviews for the next chapter! And tell me what you thought of the episode, please! I love talking PLL (even though it makes me mad 75% of the time). **-Kayson**_


	18. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note:** I feel like I posted this already, but I guess not..._

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

Spencer waited for someone to answer the door. She kind of wanted for there to be nobody home. She almost didn't want to face the music and confront her mother and father.

But, unfortunately for her, her mother answered the door. She looked a bit surprised to see her daughter, as they hadn't even spoken in what felt like a long time.

"Mom, I need to talk to you," she announced uneasily.

"Alright," her mother said hesitantly before letting her in. After they had exchanged formalities and her mother had given her coffee, they sat down to speak.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Spencer's mother inquired.

Spencer thought for a moment. "Well…there was something I wanted to ask you. Did you know about…my half-brother and sister?" she questioned.

Veronica immediately put down the cup of coffee. She thought of how to answer this question. "Your half-brother and sister?"

"Jason and Alison. Did you know about them?"

Her mother was silent. "Yes," she answered finally.

Spencer couldn't believe it. "And you never told me and Melissa?" she asked.

"I didn't just let it go, Spencer. I was angry at him. Believe me, I was, but I thought…well…I could either deal with it or leave two families completely fragmented."

Spencer hated to admit it, but when her mother reasoned like that, it made sense. She still thought it was wrong and her father was wrong, but her decision didn't seem so awful when phrased like that.

"So you knew about Jason and Alison?"

"I didn't know them. I knew _of _them. I didn't even know Alison's name, but I did know that he had another child with Jessica," she replied. She said the name 'Jessica' like it was absinthe on her tongue.

Spencer narrowed her eyes. "Do you know if Dad met them?"

"I assume he met Jason at least once. Spencer, why are you asking me and not your father?"

"Because obviously, my father's lied to me my entire life about this," she retorted. "And I guess you have, too," she realized.

"How would we explain that to you and Melissa?" her mother questioned.

"I don't know, but obviously, it could've been done," she retorted.

Her mother sighed. "Spencer—"

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I…I want to resolve everything in my past so I can move onto my future," she announced. "And the only way to do that is to confront all of this. I'm plenty screwed up from my childhood as it is."

"Why?"

Spencer held back the urge to laugh bitterly (but just barely). "Because my whole life, nothing I ever did was good enough for you or Dad. It was like everything I did was wrong. I could never please you. When I was little, that was all I ever wanted. And I never felt good enough for this family. I thought that by marrying Andrew, I'd make you all really happy and that all of that would make me finally _belong_, but…I wasn't happy with him. So I found Toby and I fell in love with him and I still love him, but sometimes, our relationship feels odd and I still blame not feeling like I'm ever good enough. He's the best person I've ever been with and I _always _feel like he could do better."

"Spencer—"

"No! My whole childhood, I was silent. Now you're going to let me talk," she demanded. "I just see him as the kind of person I always wanted in a father and now that we're trying to have a baby, I just…I don't feel good enough for him, again." That seemed to have confused her mother, so she explained: "We've been trying so much to conceive, but it's just not working. I don't know what's wrong, but…I think it's something wrong with me. And I just want to give him a child because I know he wants it so much. I want it, too, but…" She trailed off as she began to feel a bit emotional about it.

"Spencer," her mother responded as she put a soothing hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"I just don't understand why it's so hard when I'm still so relatively young. I mean, I'm just twenty-nine. Why is it so hard?"

"Maybe it's secondary infertility problems," her mother suggested. "Did you see your doctor?"

She nodded. "She said that it could be stress or that something isn't clicking right this second, but she said to come back if I still haven't conceived in a few months," she explained. "I just feel like there's something wrong."

"Just listen to your doctor," Veronica suggested. "She's probably dealt with women in your exact same position before, Spencer. Aside from that, she knows her stuff. She'll tell you when there's reason to be concerned."

Spencer certainly hoped that was the case.

* * *

Toby never really went out drinking and never really in the week. He'd never really loved the taste of alcohol. But lately, he felt like he needed a drink. That was why he went out to drink with Emily and Caleb.

"I was surprised when you called. Hard liquor was really more mine and Hanna's thing than yours," Emily commented as she watched Toby down a shot of tequila.

The liquor burned going down his throat, so he decided that would be his first and last shot of the night. He settled instead for a beer.

"Caleb said that he's on his way. But in the meantime…what's going on with you and Spencer?"

Toby stared at Emily for a moment. "I didn't even tell you—"

"I could hear it in your voice on the phone. Did something happen to you? Or her? Is something wrong?"

He sighed. "You could say that. I never thought that she'd want this baby so badly. For so long, she wanted to avoid it and I was the one who wanted this. But now that we're actually trying and it doesn't seem to be working…" he trailed off. "I'm really worried about her, Emily. I'm worried that every time she finds out she's not pregnant, she'll beat herself down about it. I love the idea of _our _baby, Emily, but…I love Spencer a lot more."

"Have you told Spencer all of this?"

"I've tried, but whenever I do, she gets really touchy about it and I can tell that it hurts her, but…she doesn't want to acknowledge how painful this is. I just want her to realize that it's not her fault that this isn't happening for us."

Emily was about to respond, but then Caleb came and sat down with them.

"Why is everything so serious?"

Judging from their reactions, this was not the time to joke around.

"I just don't think all this stress is good for Spencer," Toby said.

"Wait. Is Spencer pregnant?" Caleb inquired, missing the entire first part of the conversation. Emily kicked his leg under the table. "Ow! Emily!" he whined. Emily rolled her eyes.

"No, it's fine, Emily. No, she's not pregnant," Toby answered. "And that's exactly the problem."

"Are you really taking it that hard? You should enjoy your alone-time with Spencer while you still can," Caleb suggested.

Toby sighed. "It's not me. It's Spencer. We've been trying for a while now and she's being too hard on herself; I can feel it."

Emily thought for a moment. "Maybe you just need to pull her mind away from this for a little bit. Maybe even only for a day or a few hours. Anything would help," she suggested.

"And how do I do that?"

"You could…take her to Philadelphia? New York?" Caleb suggested.

"Wait…maybe taking her to New York isn't such a bad idea. She loves it there, especially since…"

"What?" Emily inquired with a little smile.

"That's where we got engaged," he answered with a large grin.

"You should take her to New York," Emily confirmed with a nod. "She'll love it. Maybe you could even take her during Christmas and recreate your engagement."

* * *

Toby came home to a very empty-looking house. All the lights were turned off. It looked as though Spencer was still out (and rather late—for her, at least—at 9:45), but he thought he'd seen her car down the street.

"Spencer?"

After walking upstairs, he walked to their room and turned on the light. She was lying face-down on the bed, with Pandora observing her.

"Spencer."

She didn't even say anything. It made him wonder if she was asleep. Something told him that she wasn't, but he was a little worried.

"Spence," he tried again, shaking her slightly. "Spencer."

"What?" she inquired a bit too tersely.

"Spencer," he repeated, turning her over so she'd face him. "Spence, what's wrong? You look pale," he noted.

She groaned and sat up. "I just feel like shit if you want to know the truth," she replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Why?" he asked with concern.

"Because this is all really fucked up," she answered. Spencer cursing like this was not a good sign.

"Spencer—"

"No, you can tell me that it's fine and try and coddle me and comfort me, but it's _not _alright and we both know it! Something is wrong and I can't carry a baby. And I know you said something about it not being the right time or what fate wanted to happen, but what if fate is trying to tell us something? I mean, with all the drama coming from my fucked up family…and I guess that makes me fucked up by association—"

"Don't you dare say that again," he said to her.

"But _why not_?"

"Because you're amazing, Spencer. You're not screwed up by any standards. You're beautiful, inside and out; you're an amazing person and you don't deserve any of this. You don't need to do this to yourself. I don't want to see you do this to yourself."

She could hear his voice cracking near the ends of his sentences. She could just make out the tears forming on his eyes.

"Toby—"

"It'll happen. I _know_ it's going to happen. You need to relax and try and forget about it. Please," he asked her.

He walked out of the room a minute later.

She had to admit that seeing him like that…it certainly scared her a bit. She had that same feeling one gets when they saw their parents or older, stronger sibling cry. It was like when that person lost it, you knew things were _bad_. She had to wonder how bad she was possibly acting for him to act this way. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him cry.

She knew she was being selfish. A little part of her knew it. She was sitting and moping and whining about it all the time, but…it was probably hurting him just as much. She had to _physically _carry the baby, but this hypothetical child would be _his_, too. And perhaps Dr. Reynolds was right; it could've been a problem with his sperm and not her reproductive system. Maybe he thought he was the reason that they couldn't conceive.

All she knew was that this awful cycle couldn't continue any longer. She wasn't getting any better by wallowing in self-pity. He certainly wasn't getting any better _watching _her wallow in self-pity.

"Toby?" she called out weakly. "Toby!"

She was going to try and forget about it for that one night. She just wanted to lie in bed with her husband, just like they used to, and stay there, safe in bed with him.

* * *

**_Elana01299: _**_Personally, Forget Me Not is my favourite one I've written (so far). I have a new one in the works that could take the top spot as my favourite pretty soon. I hope to have it out September/October, but I'm not positive. Haleb is not in the next chapter. However, Spelissa and Tamela are :) I just dislike Aria very, very much, so this was just icing on the "GTFO of Rosewood, Aria" cake. _

**_Guest:_**_Amen. #PoorHanna #ForgetYouAria. idk I didn't really love the whole twist with Toby being a cop because it doesn't really make sense. I mean, I know he's noble and all, but it seemed weird to me. And I have a headcanon that he's going to become an architect (hello?) so this is not okay with me. Plus, it makes me kind of scared for him. I mean, look at the cops in this town. Wilden: dead. Garrett: dead. Then again, there's always Officer Barry...omg I want some Officer Barry/Toby scenes now. HALP. Eh...I'm conflicted on Haleb and Caleb. I feel like this is all a façade. Or maybe it's just more of the PLL writers' shitty character development. Who knows? _

**_Sarah:_**_Join the club. Want some "Aria, GTFO of Rosewood" cake, too? Spoby was the only good thing in that ep. #SorryNotSorry Also, I'm sorry (not really), but Ezria is not (nor will it be ever again) relevant to anything concerning Alison. Just let it die. Ezra just eats cake. Stop excusing a relationship that should've been over like five years ago when it started. Just stop. It was only better (imo) because Toby was there. _

**_spobylover1237: _**_Aria was the worst. Any bit of me liking Aria just flew out the window. This is really dirty, but it kind of makes me wonder what else those handcuffs are going to be used for...too much? idk even though Spencer is really conservative and everything, I just...eh, I don't think anyone is always that conservative. I actually thought it was kind of in character, just a different side to him. I just feel like we don't see that side. It was just the best. That scene was the best. I loved it. Glad you liked it!_

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_It wasn't bad. I just did it to see if anyone would freak out (which nobody really did, so my plan failed). Glad you liked it!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Yeah, that's how it happened in the books. And I honestly do kind of think that Ali is Spencer's sister, too. idk I just want that to happen. Hope you liked this one!_

**_MilaMizz:_**_The spoby was perfect. The rest was lukewarm. Aria's a bitch. That's all you really need to know. Glad you liked it!_

**_AL3110: _**_Okay, so Jason and Alison's mother and father are Jessica and Peter Hastings (respectively). Melissa and Spencer's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Hastings. Spencer and Melissa are half-sisters of Jason and Alison through their father. Oh, great. Now I have to deal with people asking about Haleb babies...I'm literally not talking about this anymore. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Yes, he is. _

**_Pllfanfictor:_**_I'm glad you liked it and I am literally not even addressing this anymore. Sorry. I just can't anymore. _

_I'm literally not going to talk about Spencer and Toby having kids anymore. I will ignore anyone who asks me about it from now on or even mentions it. No mas. I'm not. I'm sorry. I'm done. _

_Spoilers for next chapter: talk about Brandon, Melissa is concerned, baby talk (and lots of it), and someone has a baby. Spoiler. **-Kayson**_


	19. Chapter 18

_**Author's Note: **I hope you guys like it...though there seems to be some confusion with when I said someone is "having a baby." The moral is...take everything I say verrrryyyy cautiously and/or with a grain of salt :)_

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

A week later, things were _kind of _back to what was more normal for them. There was always the elephant in the room that they shoved into the corner, but they both seemed a little more comfortable with the proverbial elephant.

One day in particular, they were going to Melissa's home in Philadelphia.

Melissa and her husband shared a rather nice flat in the western section of Philly. It was a large apartment (since Melissa was never really keen on living in a quaint little house; it was too "normal" for her) which was rather well-kept, nicely (and expensively) decorated, and generally uncomfortable to be in (unless you were Melissa or like Melissa, as Spencer assumed her sister was comfortable in her own home). It wasn't stuffy, per se, but it _was _the kind of house where you were very scared of disrupting the perfection; every wine glass and pillow had its specific spot and was not to be moved, disturbed, or changed.

Melissa's husband was nowhere to be found—business trip, which seemed to be the new normal (and Spencer was rather certain that he saw more of the TSA agents than his own wife)—so she had invited Spencer and Toby over. Well, she invited Spencer out and had asked Toby if he could take care of Pamela, as it was a rather last-minute thing. Melissa thought that it would give Pamela and Toby uncle-and-niece bonding time.

If he was being totally honest, he was kind of glad to spend this time alone with Pamela. She was still a baby and when he had his own child with Spencer—which he was absolutely positive would happen, someday—he didn't want to have a weird, foreign feeling with him or her. It had been almost four years since he held a baby Cassidy, so it was nice to have the feeling back.

Pamela's hair was getting a little longer. When she was a baby, it was darker, like her mother's and aunt's natural shade of brown, but now that she was getting a little older, it was a bit lighter. Her hair was now a very light shade of brown to almost dirty blonde. But her eyes were still just as blue as they were the day she was born.

* * *

After shopping for Pamela for about two hours, Spencer and Melissa sat down to have lunch.

Something which continued to surprise Spencer was how well she got along with Melissa now. When they were younger, they'd fight _nonstop_, but now that they were both adults and had families, they got along very well.

"Has something been bothering you? You look like you've been on the edge all day," Melissa commented.

Spencer sighed. "Did you know we have a brother? And a sister we didn't know about?"

Melissa furrowed her eyebrows. "How did you find out? And _sister_? What sister?" she inquired.

"You knew about Jason?!" Spencer exclaimed. "And you never told me?"

"I didn't want to ruin your relationship with him and I heard Mom and Dad talking about it a few years ago when I moved back to Pennsylvania. I didn't ever realize it was Jason until I saw him at your wedding and I actually met him," she explained. "And I really didn't know about a sister. Jason has a sister?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah. I've never met her, either."

"Are they estranged, or something?" Melissa inquired as she took a sip of her water with lemon.

"Something like that, I guess. Well…Alison ran away a few years ago and Jason hasn't heard from her in over a year…or two…I can't remember exactly…"

"Do Mom and Dad know that you know?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Mom seems so dismissive over the fact that her husband cheated on her at least twice and had kids with someone else _twice_," she answered. "And I'm sure she told Dad, but who can be certain of any sort of communication in this family?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But they asked me not to. I guess they didn't want to freak you out with wedding stuff, since I found out a little bit after you announced that you were engaged," she explained.

Spencer shrugged. Of course, it bothered her, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

* * *

Toby watched as Pamela played with her blocks. Spencer and Melissa had been gone for about three hours now. She had eaten, been changed (twice), and was now playing with her blocks. He had to admit that she was a lot like her mother and aunt; she was already organizing blocks by color and started to stack them accordingly.

As he watched Pamela play, his phone buzzed.

_How is the little baby?_

It was Tiffany. He already knew what she was doing: staying at home, probably being superwoman, and taking care of both Chloe and Damian, in addition to probably cooking her husband some amazing dinner (since Tiffany was quite the cook). Or at least, probably baking something. Tiffany made chocolate cheesecake to die for and pretty amazing brownies, too.

_She's already anal-retentive and color-coding her blocks._

_Oh, God. Are you sure she's not Spencer's?_

_Positive. In case you forgot, Melissa is just like her sister. Or…her sister is just like her._

He looked over again at Cassidy, who had come up with a little pattern for her blocks: blue, red, purple, yellow, blue, red, purple, yellow, etc. and pushed aside the rest of them.

_Have fun with your little baby!_

_Have fun with your two babies!_

Toby sat back down with Pamela, who looked pretty happy to see him. She started babbling something before holding out a yellow block for him. He smiled at her before picking up a green block, but she took it from him and instead showed him the yellow block again.

"You really like this yellow block, don't you?" he inquired. She smiled when he took it from her.

_How is Cassidy?_

That was Spencer.

_She's fine. Very OCD about her blocks, though. I'm sure she takes after her aunt._

_More like her mom! If you think I'm anal, you should see how Melissa organizes her closet: by texture, color, article of clothing, and length. It's pretty scary. _

Toby shook his head in amusement. Pamela was still babbling something as she arranged her blocks neatly on the carpet.

* * *

Spencer smiled at her phone as Melissa walked over to the table. She put her phone away when she noticed her sister walk back to the table.

"Why are you all smiley?"

"Toby just texted me about Pamela. Apparently, she likes to organize her blocks?"

Melissa seemed to pale a bit when Spencer mentioned that. "Yeah. It worries me a little," she disclosed.

"Why?"

"I just…that's not normal, is it?" Melissa asked. "I mean, how many kids do you know that do that?"

Spencer frowned. "Melissa…that just means that Pamela is a little bit quicker and…_intuitive _about things like that, I guess."

Melissa still didn't look convinced. "It just—"

"Melissa, this is nothing but a good thing," Spencer assured her. "I hope that when Toby and I have a baby, he or she is as smart and as precious as Pamela."

Melissa had to smile at that. "So you think that you're ready to make me an aunt?" she inquired.

Spencer nodded with a small smile. "And what about you? Are you going to give me a third niece or a nephew?" she asked jokingly.

The smile on Melissa's face dropped. "I don't think you and Toby should count on that anytime soon," she responded, avoiding eye contact with Spencer.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I just…I never see my husband anymore. And when we do see each other, he's so tired that he doesn't want to talk or really do anything with me. He barely even has time for Pamela, with his work schedule," she revealed.

"Melissa—"

"I don't know why I'm so surprised with all of this. I don't know why I thought that having a baby would make him change. But it didn't and I don't know if I really want to be in this marriage anymore," she interrupted. "But I don't want to make Pamela suffer with our divorce because I was being selfish and didn't bother to make it work."

"Melissa, you have to put yourself before everything. I know that sounds weird in this situation, but if you're not happy, Pamela is smart enough that she's going to be able to tell. Do you really think that Pamela will really care, in the long run? Maybe it'll feel weird to her that her parents aren't together, but if this happens now, she'll be used to it when she gets older," Spencer reasoned.

Melissa thought about it for a moment. "I just don't know what I want to do. I don't know what I'd do," she confessed. Melissa hadn't worked since she had gotten married about five years prior, when she was twenty-nine (ironically, both Melissa and Spencer had gotten married at the age of twenty-nine).

"You passed your BAR exam. Why don't you try to find work in a law firm?" Spencer suggested.

Melissa sighed. "I just…I know that Scot isn't going to take care of Pamela a lot and if I get a job like that, what am I supposed to do about Pamela?" she asked.

"Are you really ready to get divorced?" Spencer inquired. "I know you're saying all of this, but it keeps sounding like you're finding reasons to stay."

"It's not like I just decided today that I want to get divorced, Spence. I was in love with him…once," she reminded her younger sister. "Oh, God. What are Mom and Dad going to say? They said that they knew it was never going to work."

"You'll cross that bridge when you get there," Spencer assured her. "Right now, you just have to do what's best for you and what's best for Pamela."

* * *

Spencer and Melissa walked back into Melissa's house to find Toby rocking Pamela so she'd sleep.

"Don't even ask," he warned.

Spencer couldn't do anything to contain the smile that lit up her face. It was so precious to see Toby take care of a baby.

"This was literally the only way she'd fall asleep," he explained as he passed Pamela to her mother.

Melissa threw the shopping bags on the couch and took her daughter. "Thank you so much for taking care of her! I can't remember the last time Spencer and I got to spend time alone together," she said quietly, careful not to wake Pamela.

"It was nice taking care of her. She's really smart," he commented.

Melissa smiled proudly at her daughter. "Yeah, I know she is."

* * *

"It was really nice taking care of her. It was kind of weird, though, considering I haven't really taken care of a baby since I babysat for Jason and Aria when Cassidy was little," Toby said as the two of them got into bed.

Spencer smiled. "Cassidy was the cutest baby. I remember how Aria would always rock her to sleep in that rocking chair…" she trailed off. Of course, when she thought of Cassidy, some memories of Brandon always came to mind, considering they were only born a few weeks apart. "I remember that Cassidy always took forever to get to bed and Brandon just fell right asleep."

"Spencer."

She didn't respond. "We don't have to pretend he never existed, Toby. He did. I can't just forget all about him. And I wouldn't want to, either," she said. For the first time, talking about him didn't bring her to tears. "I promise you, I'm fine. I just want to move on from Andrew and my childhood and all of that. I want to start over again. Remember? You taught me how to begin again," she assured him before giving him a kiss on the cheek and turning off the light.

"Goodnight, Spence. I love you."

The room was silent for a moment. Spencer could hear Mowgli or Pandora fumbling all over one of Toby's shirts (most likely Pandora).

"I love you, too. Now go to bed, Goofball," she teased.

* * *

_**Sarah: **Preach. I pretty much only watch for Spoby, Haleb, and Mona (when she appears). I really don't like Aria. Thank God I'm not alone on that. Thanks, but seriously, noooooo this stuff is unoriginal and pretty...meh. Not impressive. I'm sure you could write something beautiful if you tried. I'd read it._

_**sarahschneider2012:** Thanks! I like stretching out the angst, but I promise not to do it for too much longer ;)_

_**spobylover1237:** Yeah, don't. To be honest, I can't wait to post that chapter just so I'll STOP HEARING THAT DAMN QUESTION. I mean, I love you guys, but...I addressed that question at least 126 times. But thank you. I'm glad you liked it._

_**MilaMizz:** I just...ugh, I don't like Aria. Really? Tell me if you were right. Hope you liked it!_

_**arubagirl0926: **She will. Eventually. I promise. Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter!_

_**Elana01299:** Are you disappointed? To be completely honest, I usually kind of glaze over when Toby isn't in an episode, but I kind of liked the last one since we got to ser Spaleb/Caleb hitting someone in the face and being sweet to Hanna. That was like all I remember and all I care about. Thanks! I hope you liked this!_

_**Guest: **If Toby ends up dead, I'm pretty sure the writers will end up dead. Not because of me, but because of all the other cray cray spobettes out there. I'll always like Ali as a character, but I don't trust her as far as I can shove her (which is not very far because I'm small). Spoel was the best. Thank yewww :) I hope you liked this chapter._

_**Guest: **Thankssss :) _

_**Alliecat:** #PetitionForSpobyHalebRoadtripSpinoff #Petition that's my ot4. Oh my..._

_I would really love to get 10-12 reviews! Here are my teasers: New York, Christmastime, engagement, hotel, and blindfold. I hope that was intriguing enough :) _**_-Kayson_**


	20. Chapter 19

_**Author's Note:** I actually LOVEDDDDD this chapter (and I never say that), but you should be warned that it is VERY fluffy and sweet, so if you're not into that...look away. _

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

"Toby, I hate surprises!"

"Spencer, do you remember what happened the last time you got a surprise?"

"I got a house and a cat?"

"Yes, and you love that house and that cat!"

She groaned. "Yeah, but we've been driving for an hour and a half and you made me put on a blindfold forty minutes ago. Where are we going?" she whined.

"It's a surprise!"

She groaned before slumping back in her seat. "If I didn't love you so much, I'd really hate you," she commented.

"I love you, too!" he teased. "And don't worry. You'll find out in about…five minutes. I promise, you'll like it."

She sighed. She continued to pout (not that Toby could notice while driving) for five minutes, until the car pulled to a stop. "Can I please look now?"

"No. Just wait here. And Spencer, if you touch that blindfold, I swear to—"

"I won't touch it!" she exclaimed. "Just hurry up so I can take the stupid thing off!" she complained. She heard him walk away. She was very tempted to just rip it off and then put it back on, but she loved him too much to do it. And aside from that, it was too tight to just push it off and the knots Toby had tied were some weird, complicated knots that he must've learned in the navy or something; they were not going to be undone with ease.

She heard the car door open. "Toby, this isn't funny anymore. Can you tell me where we are?" she asked.

"Nope. You'll see when we get there."

* * *

After an awkward walk through the hotel and several stares from other guests (which only Toby was privy to), they finally got to their destination.

Toby opened the door to the room and walked her onto the balcony. He began to untie the knots.

"Did you really have to make the blindfold so damn tight and complicated to unknot?" she asked.

"Did you really think I trusted you to not peek when I got all of this ready?" he countered.

She pouted and crossed her arms. "Toby," she scolded.

He got the last knot untied. "Sorry, but I wanted this moment to be perfect," he said as he removed the blindfold.

She was finally able to see everything. They were standing on a balcony in New York City. "Toby, is this…?" she inquired.

"Yup. I had to book this room two months ago, but seeing your reaction…it was all worth it," he assured her. She had to smile. Not only was it the very spot where they had gotten engaged, but the view was spectacular and it was a beautiful day.

"How long are we staying here?" she inquired as she walked up to the railing and looked out at the city and the water.

"I figured we could head back on Christmas Eve. That way, we'd really have the chance to relive when we got engaged," he explained, wrapping her arms around her. "And also, so you wouldn't have to be away from the kittens for long, since I know you get anxiety when you're separated from Pandora and Mowgli for more than 48 hours. I promise, Spence, Hanna and Caleb are taking good care of them."

She nodded a little. "Yeah, you're right. Just as long as Hanna and Caleb aren't…_fraternizing _on our couch, then I'm sure everything is fine."

"I think you made it really clear that there's to be no fraternizing on the couch," he said with a laugh. "Now, I think that we should go to the first thing I had planned for us to do."

"And what would that be?"

"Tickets to see that show you've been dying to see for months—"

"Cabaret?"

"And then dinner afterwards at this not-so-little place my mom and I would sometimes go to when we came here and I was little," he explained. "It's really great. And they have good cheesecake."

Spencer bit her lip. "You're going to give me diabetes in one meal, you know?"

"I was counting on it," he answered with a smile.

* * *

"Is Mowgli your new best friend?" Hanna asked as she took a bite of chicken. After three attempts, she finally used the chopsticks successfully.

"Are you jealous?" Caleb asked as he pet Mowgli on the stomach. Mowgli was playing with Caleb's hands.

"Only if you're jealous of Handora." When Caleb raised an eyebrow, she explained, "That's what I'm calling mine and Pandora's friendship. She loves me."

Caleb rolled his eyes amicably. "Maybe we should get a cat."

Hanna shook her head incessantly. "No, no, no. I'm _not _getting a cat. Pandora and Mowgli are the exception, because all animals hate me, I swear. And Bourgeois. But sometimes, he kind of hates me, too," she noted. "Whatever. No pets. I can't find hair between my toes, Caleb! And my Michael Kors dresses were _not _made to get cat hair all over them!"

"Okay, fine, no pets," he said as he continued to rub Mowgli's stomach.

"Besides…are you ready for that step?" she inquired a bit self-consciously.

He nodded slowly. Hanna wasn't sure if she was relieved or scared.

* * *

"Is there really cheesecake still?" Spencer inquired as they sat in the restaurant. Since it was about eleven thirty and a weekday before the winter vacation, it was pretty empty (for New York City standards).

"Yup. Get any one you want," he said as he looked at the menu.

"Well…I haven't had chocolate in a while and I love chocolate cheesecake…" she trailed off. "And I know caffeine is in my veins, but the hot chocolate sounds good…"

"Get whatever you want."

She groaned. "I'm not going to be able to finish it."

"I'll sit with you until you finish. And until they kick us out," he joked.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Alright, fine. I'm going to surprise you and get the hot chocolate instead of my espresso. And we can share the cheesecake," she announced.

"Perfect."

Fifteen minutes later, they had their dessert.

"You know what'll go perfectly with this dessert when we get back to the hotel?" she asked teasingly before taking a bite. She moaned. "Oh, my God. This is so good!"

"Spencer—"

"No, Toby, it's amazing," she said before moaning again.

"Should I be jealous of this cheesecake?"

She nodded before taking another bite. Then, she went for the hot chocolate, which was equally as delicious and she groaned again. "You should be jealous of everything lately," she teased.

He rolled his eyes and took a bite for himself. "It is really good cheesecake. Better than I remembered it."

"Why have you never brought me here before?"

"I guess I never thought of it."

She side-eyed him before eating more cheesecake. He just watched in amusement, until she couldn't eat any more. She had left him approximately two bites of the regular part of the cheesecake.

* * *

She took off her wedding and engagement rings as she waited for him to come out of the bathroom. Of course, the door was open as he brushed his teeth.

"I can't believe this is the exact spot where we got engaged. Well, this isn't the exact spot, but this is the very same room we were in," she said, partially to herself, and also to him. "I still can't get over how beautiful both of the rings are."

Toby walked in a moment later. "The engagement ring is just a vintage band and a diamond. But the wedding band belonged to my mom. I think she would've been glad that you had it."

She looked up into his sincere blue eyes before giving him a kiss. "I really hope so," she thought aloud. He nodded to assure her. "Sometimes I wonder if she'd like me."

He smiled. "Spencer. I know she'd _love _you. My mom was one of those parents who just wanted her children to be happy, so I think she would've loved you. I don't know how anybody could not love you," he said before kissing her softly on the lips.

She sighed. "Believe me, it's possible."

He shook his head before wrapping her arms around her. "I'll never stop loving you," he assured her.

Spencer felt a bit more at peace knowing that.

"Hey, Spencer?" he asked after five minutes of comfortable silence.

"Yes?"

"Do you realize that we're in the bed where we first made love as an _engaged _couple?"

"Hey, Toby? Do you realize how _cheesy _you sound right now? Go to sleep, Goofball. There's _plenty _of time for that in the morning and in the afternoon and at night and…there are twenty-four hours a day," she flirted.

* * *

She woke up the next morning, two days before Christmas, to see that small snowflakes were falling outside. She sat up and looked again. About an inch of white, fluffy snow had accumulated on the balcony railing.

"Toby!" she exclaimed, nudging him awake.

"What? What happened?" he asked, barely opening his eyes.

"It's snowing!" she yelled happily. She jumped up on the bed and began jumping up and down, hitting him with a pillow. "Get up! It's snowing!"

With his eyes finally wide open, he stared at her in amusement. "Have you had alcohol already? You're acting awfully silly."

"Maybe we'll finally have a white Christmas!" she exclaimed, continuing to jump. "There hasn't been a white Christmas since…I can't even remember." She threw the pillow at him. "Get up!"

He pushed the pillow onto the floor and grabbed her so she fell on top of him.

"Hey!" She was less than pleased with that. "What was that for?"

"You were bound to fall off the bed any second. And then we'd spend Christmas Eve in the emergency room. And who knows? Maybe then, you'd get treated by some nice, single doctor who you find more attractive than me and you'd leave me for him," he teased.

She smiled before kissing him. "Impossible." They lingered for a moment before she said, "Now get up and get dressed and take a shower and do whatever you need to do. We're going to spend the day out and about in New York."

* * *

After spending the day walking all around the city—going to the Museum of Modern Art, walking through the city (even if it was rather cold), and finally eating dinner—they were off to the activity Spencer was most excited about: ice skating.

"Don't tell me you've never skated before," she said as they waited to get onto the ice.

"I have…a really long time ago," he replied.

Spencer smiled. "Well, lucky for you, I was a very good ice skater."

"Hmm…somehow, I'm not surprised," he replied.

"And I'm sure you'll be fine," she said sincerely. "It's easy. If you've ever gone rollerblading, it's like that. But I think this is easier."

When they finally got onto the ice, he was a bit hesitant. To be totally honest, she was, as well. She hadn't skated in quite some time. But after a few steps, she had gotten the hang of it.

"It's not hard. Just…act like you're walking. That's all it is. You're just…walking on ice."

Toby glanced at her nervously. "I thought you were supposed to help."

She sighed before taking his hands and checking that nobody was right behind them. "Just…walk. And if you fall, then we both fall and we'll both look like idiots in front of all these people," she promised.

He took a deep breath before doing what she said. The first steps off of the wall were a bit wobbly, but after a few steps, he began to feel better.

"This really isn't so bad."

She smiled. "You're a natural. You should've seen when Melissa and I first started taking lessons. I was four and I think she was eight or nine already. She was falling all over the place," she told him with a smile. "Just keep gliding and be careful to stay on both blades." When he gave her this confused look, she elaborated. "Ice skates have two blades. A lot of ice skaters and ice dancers do their turns and all of that on one blade, but since we're both novices at this, we should just keep our weight in the center," she explained.

"Do you know everything?"

"Yes," she replied, playing along. "Now, I'm going to start skating alongside you and we'll see how it goes."

* * *

"You were a natural," Spencer commented as they drank hot chocolate and walked back to the hotel.

"Not really," Toby answered modestly.

"You were! I can't believe you didn't fall even _once_!" she continued as they walked inside of the hotel. "I never say this to anyone, but I think you're better than me at ice skating."

"_I'm _better than _Spencer Hastings_—"

"Cavanaugh."

"—Spencer _Cavanaugh _at something?" he inquired, feigning shock.

"I'm still better than you at remembering my name," she teased.

He sighed. "I know, it's a bad habit," he responded as he called an elevator. "Hey, you know what today is?"

She smiled. "How could I forget? It's the anniversary of the day where I agreed to let you forget my name for the rest of our lives," she answered with a smile.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Alright, _now _who's the goofball?"

"The person who keeps forgetting his wife's name!"

* * *

**_Guest: _**_Thank you!_

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_Thanks! I think I kind of got the right balance between sad and cute in the last chapter, right? Maybe not, but I tried! You'll be seeing more of Melissa/Pamela. Just...not right this second. _

**_spobylover1237:_**_Nopeeeeeee :) I hope it was worth the wait! I liked it. I never like anything. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm so glad you liked it!_

**_MilaMizz:_**_Hmm...I think I was actually talking about Spencer and Toby reliving their engagement in this chapter, but I can't remember, plus, it's 1 AM and I got like five hours of sleep last night, so I'm tired. Glad you liked it!_

**_Guest: _**_I will be IRATE LIKE YOU CANNOT IMAGINE if that were to happen. That's even worse than these stupid purge rumours. I like her as a character (as a writer, I like her, I guess is what I'm trying to say), but I think she's an evil bitch, for lack of a better word. I was really happy for them, but I felt kind of bad for Keegan because when they introduced Ian, Keegan, and Tyler as the presenters for the Reality Show TCA, he was the only one without another award :( But Keegan and Ian couldn't have both won, and I'm still happy for Ian (he's a precious puppy). I was more devastated than anything that Troian wasn't there because she always looks AMAZING at the TCAs and she wasn't there :( We do deserve an award, lbr. _

**_Guest (spoby4626): _**_Thank you! You have no idea what that means to me! There are so many good fics out there. I'm so glad you like mine! I apologize for my lack of regular updates. I've just had a ton of things going on at once. Unfortunately, I can't get out a chapter like every single day like I was able to a year ago :( _

**_Elana02199: _**_Oh, Pamela's father is Melissa's husband, Scot. I never really introduced him (namely because, well, I didn't have an actual name for him). I wasn't really intending on keeping that a secret; I kind of just didn't know what to call him. Scot is a kind of British name and her husband is British (no, it's not Wren. Remember? He slept with Spencer?). Ian is not in this at all. Toby and Tiffany have the best friendship. _

**_AL3110:_**_Sometimes, I just want to shove cake in your face. I'll explain tomorrow. Lol no. When have I ever written smut? Like, actual smut? Kayson doesn't do smut, at least, according to Audrey. Right? You can write a smutty one-shot based off of this chapter if you'd like ;) in fact, that offer is open to just about anyone because it would be SO FUNNY OMG. That's an open offer. I'd die to see that. I thought you were sending me a page-long apology? I wasn't mad, but you made a huge deal about it. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Neither can I! I hope you enjoyed! _

**_Megan Mellark4427: _**_I did review and if you need help, you can always PM me. I'm usually around, even if I don't respond ASAP. I'm so glad you like my story and my writing!_

**_Addictedtospoby:_**_Tbh, I'm more of a Troian fan myself (and I think her acting is always flawless), so I was a little disappointed that she didn't get the tca. Thanks, but my stuff really isn't special. At all. No, it's not. Thank you. _

_I'm trying to be as quiet (and as terse) as possible, so teasers: Spencer v. Hanna, yet ANOTHER birthday, trouble in paradise, and Valentine's Day. Please review/follow/favourite/PM! Thank you so much for reading! **-Kayson**_


	21. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note:** A lot of you were worried about Spencer vs. Hanna. I hope this chapter quells your fears..._

_Also, a PSA in the bottom author's note :)_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

"I don't even know why you're bothering with this; we all know that _I'm _superior at baking in every single way," Hanna responded as she watched Spencer ice Cassidy's birthday cake.

"No, Hanna. This is going to put an end to this battle once and for all," Spencer responded. "Cassidy _loves _the color pink—"

"And my cake is three different shades of pink," Hanna interjected.

Spencer, a bit flustered, came up with another way to one-up her. "Okay, well, Cassidy loves butterflies—"

"And my cake has edible sugar butterflies on it," the blonde interrupted with a sly smile. "Face it. I've got you beat."

Spencer frowned. "Alright, well…you may win aesthetically, but mine is clearly going to taste better."

"Oh, really? Because I don't think you used extra-large eggs and added pudding, along with whipping it until it's fluffy," Hanna replied as she crossed her arms. "You're done!" she sing-songed.

Spencer pouted. "We'll see which one Cassidy likes the best," she answered as she put down the icing bag. "I guess we'll let the birthday girl decide."

* * *

Hanna and Spencer scrutinized Cassidy as she looked at each cake.

"The one with the purple butterfly is really pretty," she commented, pointing at Hanna's cake. It had three shades of icing—dusty rose, fuchsia, and baby pink—along with a pretty purple sugar butterfly and silver edible pearls.

Aria looked at Hanna and Spencer in amusement. "Why don't you try them, Angel?"

Cassidy took a bite of Spencer's first. "This one is really yummy," she said. Spencer looked at Hanna happily. Then, she took a little forkful of Hanna's cake and her eyes lit up. "This one is really soft! And yummy!" she added.

Spencer groaned in defeat. Hanna yelped in excitement. "I won! I won! My cake is better than yours!" she sing-songed, taunting Spencer.

A moment later, Jason walked in with Caleb and Toby. Cassidy looked up and ran over to them. She jumped into Toby's arms.

"Uncle Toby!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in forever!" she shouted. She was quite the dramatic, considering she last saw her uncle about a week prior.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Caleb asked.

"I saw you yesterday," Cassidy answered with a shrug.

"What about Daddy, Cassidy?" Aria inquired.

Cassidy shrugged again. "I saw him like an hour ago."

Jason sighed. "Kids. All they do is break your heart," he commented dramatically. Aria had to roll her eyes a little.

"It's okay, Daddy. I'll write to you on the weekends," she said.

Aria laughed at her daughter. "I have the feeling that she's going to be a good little actress someday."

"Yeah," everyone else replied in unison.

"Do you want to open your presents now, Cassidy?" Aria asked.

Cassidy nodded eagerly.

* * *

"Has Aria talked to you about the honeymoon?" Hanna asked as she took a bite of her chocolate croissant two weeks later.

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Honeymoon?"

Hanna nodded. "Yeah. Since they already had Cassidy and she was still little, they never took a honeymoon, but they decided to take one in May. Since nobody really wants anyone else on their honeymoon, they were talking about who's going to take care of Cassidy while they're away," Hanna explained. "Do you think you'd take care of her?"

Spencer nodded without hesitation. "Sure. I mean…I love Cassidy. And we have the space for it. And she loves Toby."

"Of course, she loves Toby. It's her _uncle_, Spencer. Don't tell Caleb or Aria's brother that I said this, but he's probably her favorite uncle," Hanna said before drinking some coffee.

Spencer nodded.

"But I think we're a tie for favorite aunt," Hanna snuck in."

Spencer rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I think I can live with that, Han."

"I'm the fashionable aunt who buys her everything and you're the aunt that actually acts all sappy and gives life lessons and stuff like that."

"I'll make sure to note that when I get home."

Hanna finished her croissant. "I'm going to get another croissant…or two," she replied. Spencer was about to comment, but before she could, Hanna was off.

When Hanna finally came back, she inquired, "Since when do you eat breakfast? And why are you having three croissants? And…is there something wrong, Hanna?"

"Why would anything be wrong?" the blonde asked before taking a bite of her chocolate croissant.

"Because I know you and I know you only eat like this when you're _really _stressed. Talk."

Hanna sighed. "I just feel like…Caleb and I are getting a little distant. He's barely around and when he does, he just acts like he's…hiding something," she explained.

Spencer narrowed her eyes as she thought about it. "That's…odd," she supposed.

Hanna nodded. "I know. That's why I'm…scared."

"So how are you spending Valentine's Day with him?"

She sighed. "I have a really nice night planned for tonight, but…what if it's not enough?"

"Well, then Caleb's an idiot because you're adorable and lovable," she assured Hanna. "But I think Caleb is smarter than that."

Hanna smiled at Spencer. "What are you doing with Toby tonight?"

Spencer had a tiny smile on her face. It was almost devious. "Well…if you _really _want to know—"

"I'm not so sure I do anymore."

"—we're going to have dinner at this Italian place he drew the designs for and then we're coming back home for dessert," she answered, ignoring Hanna.

"Are you the dessert?" Hanna inquired.

Spencer blushed a little. "Well…probably, but aside from that, the place has this little bakery in the front and Toby's been raving to me about ever since the place opened."

Hanna had a sly little smirk on her face. "Since when does Spencer _Cavanaugh _ever talk about stuff that happens in her bedroom?"

"Since you asked me about it?" she replied innocently.

Hanna sighed. "Not the point I was trying to make, but I'm happy for the two of you. At least _one of us _is getting some action," she lamented.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Okay, Hanna. What's a long time without sex for you? Two weeks?"

"Three!" the blonde pouted.

* * *

"These are very cute," Spencer said as she fixed the yellow tulips her husband had gotten her in a vase. They looked absolutely perfect.

"_Cute_? I guess this isn't going to be a good—"

"Toby, shut up," she advised as she moved the tulips from the kitchen counter to the dining room table. "They're perfect. You probably have a whole garden waiting in our bedroom, don't you?"

"…No?"

"There are probably roses everywhere and you probably painted me like twelve times since the last time you made a shrine to me. Nothing surprises me anymore," she disclosed.

"Really?" he asked, a bit upset.

"Nope." She finally caught onto his unhappy expression. "But it never ceases to make me happy and make me smile," she added before kissing him on the cheek. "I'm taking a shower and then I'll be back down and we can leave. Should I wear a dress?" Spencer asked as she began to walk up the stairs.

"I'd prefer nothing."

"I'd prefer not looking like a nudist."

* * *

It had begun to pour as they walked out of the restaurant with a bag of pastries in hand. They were both laughing by the time they had gotten to the car.

"Why does it seem to pour every time we have a date or something?" she asked.

"I guess rain is just our thing. I still remember the pouring rain in Paris."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think that it rained every day we were there."

Toby smiled. "I think that's a good thing."

* * *

A short while later, they had gotten back to their house. Mowgli and Pandora were playing around downstairs. After finishing dessert—which consisted of one giant, delicious éclair—they both went upstairs, with Mowgli and Pandora still lurking around downstairs, probably playing hide and seek.

"You're getting really antsy, Toby," Spencer commented as she changed in the bathroom.

"Am I not supposed to be? My gorgeous _wife_ is getting undressed _for me _in the next room."

"I don't recall this ever turning you on before," she commented.

"It has, I just…never really expressed it."

Spencer rolled her eyes slightly before opening the door. She was standing in only lace lingerie. She realized she was teasing him.

"Turned on now?" she asked playfully.

"Please tell me that's not a serious question," Toby responded, averting his eyes slightly.

She shook her head before walking over to him. After several kisses, his lips found their way down her neck.

"Spence, did you get some éclair cream on your neck? Or your chest?" he asked, stopping abruptly.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"You taste like éclair right now," he commented. They exchanged confused looks before he said, "Never mind," and they went back to what they were doing.

But secretly, she had put some crème on her neck, and considering the payoff…she was certainly glad she had.

* * *

"You know what I think would've been more fun?" she inquired later that night, as they lay down together. "Eating dessert off of each other."

"I think I practically did that," he commented.

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, and I enjoyed it, hence, I suggested it."

Toby smiled somewhat deviously before nuzzling her neck and pulling her closer. "Are my lips really that amazing?"

"Yes," she answered babyishly. He pressed a few kisses to her neck. "Stop!" she exclaimed. "You're teasing me!" she whined.

"I know. It's fun."

Spencer sighed dramatically. "It's not fun for me!" she pouted. Although she acted as though she was unhappy, a huge part of her couldn't even begin to think of how blessed she was to have found him. With Andrew…she was never this bubbly or carefree, or…_happy_. She felt like she was truly herself with him. It was amazing.

Toby, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised by her demeanor lately, but still felt anxious. Right around Christmastime and when he had brought her to New York City, she had begun to get a little less uptight and worried about conceiving. He still couldn't help but feel that perhaps she was just being less vocal about it nowadays. He certainly hoped not, but he was still on-edge.

* * *

_**Guest: **Thank you :)_

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_I get that, I guess, but personally, I find that kind of dumb. I voted for Troian and Keegan simply because I like the both of them, but if I didn't like Keegan that much, I would totally vote for Ian. But I guess fans tend to like both of the actors in their PLL OTP. But Tyler and Ashley were also the only PLL people in that category (I'm pretty sure Ian was up against Keegan and Troian was up against Lucy, but Ashley and Tyler were alone [from the PLL cast] in their respective categories). _

**_spobylover1237:_**_Yes, patience is a virtue. It'll happen soon. I hope to give you guys good news around the time school starts because I WILL NEED HAPPY REVIEWS IN ORDER TO FUNCTION. At least I can be grateful that we don't have a full first week of school this year and it's only two days...thank you! _

**_arubagirl926:_**_Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it! _

**_Elana02199:_**_I liked the Melissa/Spencer part of it and I was glad Toby was able to join the party, but it annoys me SO much that the writers write him so OOC (imo) when it comes to Hanna. I just don't think he'd be that mean to her (and he's like always mean to her), especially since she's one of Spencer's best friends and his best friend's girlfriend. But at least there were pink drinks :) I'm glad you liked it!_

**_MilaMizz:_**_You were close! They were fighting over a different cutie. Cassidy. Obviously, I think Pandora loves her mommy more, though. Hanna's the cool aunt. I don't really see them actually fighting, either. I'm glad you liked it!_

**_eveningshades1107: _**_I'm ready to make a shirt that says, "#PINK DRINKS". I'm doing it one day, I swear. We should all make a petition for there to be shirts that say that. icing on the cake would be a pic of Spencer and Hanna sipping the pink drinks from the last ep (because Spanna is my brotp...and Taleb, of course). I totally got it from MATD/The Jungle Book. And the pic of the cat I got...he just looks like a Mowgli. If there's not at least one reference to Marina/one of her songs, it's not really a Kayson story. IDK Toby is so unrealistic in my story and somehow, he's still...in character? Toby Cavanaugh is not real. I am 1000% sure about this (and 100000% sad about it). I FORGOT ABOUT MEAN GIRLS' DAMIAN. I also love his line: "That's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets." I'm forever going to have the image of Jason saying that exact quote (you need to watch Mean Girls PLL Style on youtube. Perfection). Toby and Caleb are the worst orderers in the history of everything. IDK I did the whole Jason/Ali/Hastings thing based off of the PLL books (because I feel like they're so neglected in this fandom...some people just don't realize how much of a genius Sara Shepard really was when she came up with the PLL books). I think in the books, Ali is a secret Hastings and in the TV show, it's the opposite, so I decided to make it both of them. I don't have a court in the PLL world. In the music world, I know that Marina is the goddess, Lana is the Queen (or King? I don't even know anymore.), Gin is probably the princess, and ZZ is too...idk what the word is, but she's not a princess. She's like a dutchess or a countess or something idk but she's not a princess. That's too prim and proper. I just knew you'd die from the last chapter. Tbh, I was dying just writing the last chapter. I'm a total MT geek, too. _

**_Guest:_**_NO, AND I AM MAD ABOUT IT BECAUSE TROIAN ALWAYS LOOKS FLAWLESS AT THE TCAS. Alison is an interesting character but I cannot stand her as a person. Like, if she were really a person, I would want to smack her. In the face. With a chair. Personally...I think Melissa will die. I don't really want her to die, but they won't kill Paige; shippers will have a heart attack/Emily will have a heart attack. They won't kill Ezra; the Ezrians will kill Marlene &amp; Co. They won't kill Toby; the spobettes will launch a petition to stop the show or like boycott it or some shite (which I am on board with). They could kill Noel, but I feel like he's not relevant enough. They BETTER NOT KILL MONA or I AM going to kill Marlene &amp; Co. Aww, that is so nice! That story is my little baby. I'm so glad you liked it! Well, hopefully, I will finish my story (non-fanfic) by the time I graduate (and I'm hoping by the end of the year) and get it published before I start applying to colleges. If anything ever happens with that book, all my readers here would be the very first people to know. _

**_AL3110: _**_BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CHAPTER?_

**_Guest (spoby4626): _**_Wait, what? Did I forget to review or something? I am so sorry! What did I do? I'm very confused. I'm sorry that I left you hanging! _

_My little PSA is that my new Haleb/Spoby story, **How to Be a Heartbreaker**, will be uploaded this Wednesday. I really hope you will all read it because I'm really, really excited about this one. Here's the official synopsis: _

Hanna Marin and Spencer Hastings are two women involved in a dangerous, scandalous, and shady world: prostitution. Though their job is all about sex, it's not all pleasure, especially for Hanna. When the pair meets Caleb and Toby, the two don't know where the line lies between business and pleasure. Things only get more complicated when Hanna gets wrapped up in one of her shady client's business dealings.

_Teasers for the next chapter: Pamela's birthday, (sexy) vets, Spencer/Natalie/Caleb, and a pending proposal (of what sort I cannot say). **-Kayson**_


	22. Chapter 21

**_Author's Note: _**_I really was not going to update this quickly, but I needed SOME cheering up after the #FatalFinale last night (I'm still hoping that the only one dead after last night is me, but being as we saw a body, I doubt it). I don't know. I always smile like an idiot while reading reviews. _

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Pamela stared blankly at the cake and the candle. She looked a bit confused at this whole thing. Meanwhile, they all finished singing happy birthday.

Melissa blew out her daughter's candle.

For Pamela's birthday, Spencer had baked Pamela's cake (say what you wanted about how Hanna's were better, but she still made a pretty good white cake) and had come over with Toby to celebrate Pamela's birthday. Once again, Melissa's husband was nowhere to be seen and on some supposed "business trip" (although Spencer had begun to have her suspicions).

"Thank you for coming," Melissa said as she began to put away the cake. "It just felt a little depressing having to celebrate Pamela's birthday with just the two of us. I would've invited Jason and Aria and their daughter, but it felt kind of awkward, considering I haven't even really spoken to him much since we found out."

"You found out before I did," Spencer reminded her sister.

"Only a few months prior. And by the way, I didn't know about Alison," Melissa retorted. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter, Spencer. We just need to celebrate Pamela's first birthday."

Both of them looked over at the birthday girl, who was playing with her uncle. "He's going to make a really great father, you know?"

Spencer nodded. "I know."

"And you're going to make a really great mother," her sister assured her.

This time, Spencer fell silent. Would she really? Being an aunt was much different from being a mother. There was a whole new level of responsibility.

* * *

She kept thinking about that later that night as she and Toby were about to go to sleep.

"What if we failed as godparents?" she inquired as it came to her finally.

"What?"

Spencer sighed. "When we promised and agreed to be godparents for Pamela, part of it was promising to remind Melissa and Scot that their love created Pamela. And now, she wants a divorce and they don't seem to love each other anymore—"

"Spencer," he began, giving her a knowing look, "people change and they grow apart. It's a part of life. That doesn't mean they're not capable of being good parents. Do you really believe all that religious stuff the church is feeding everyone?"

Spencer thought about it. "Well…"

"I thought you were basically an atheist." She just thought about it. After a few seconds going without response, he continued. "So you're telling me that since you're apparently a religious, practicing Catholic, you wouldn't ever even consider divorcing Andrew if you were married to him right this second."

Spencer thought about that. "Well…"

"That's basically what you _would be doing _if you believed that it was a sin to have a child out of wedlock or divorce or anything like that," he said. "And then, what would've happened to Brandon, assuming that what happened to him never happened?"

Now he was asking the hard questions. "Where are you going with this, Toby?"

"He would've had to have grown up with two parents that weren't in love with each other."

"No, he would've grown up with a mother who was really in love with his father, while his father couldn't have cared less about his family," Spencer answered irritably.

"Which is exactly the same as what's going to happen to Pamela if we let this continue," Toby reasoned.

Spencer sighed. "I hate when you're right." Because in all honesty, he really was. Melissa was finding reasons to stay with her husband because she really did love him. Where would that leave Pamela when she got older?

"You were right in saying to Melissa that she should leave if she's not happy," he assured her. "And she was right when she said you'd make a good mother."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "You heard that?"

"I heard the whole conversation. And I heard the silence after she said that," he claimed. Spencer cowered a bit. "You're going to make a great mother."

There was a pregnant pause. "I smoked after I had the baby and that was probably why he passed away. Yeah, I'm just a _great _mother," she said sarcastically. He could hear every drop of pain in her voice.

"Spencer, don't ever say that. Things happen every day and it _wasn't _your fault!"

"But how do you even know that? Look at the facts: babies are more likely to pass away from SIDS when their parents smoke and they're exposed to it," she replied as she began to tear up. "And what if it happens again?"

"It's not going to happen again," he promised her.

"You don't know that."

"You're right; I don't know that. But what I _do _know is that you've stopped smoking. You know now things that you hadn't before. And you're going to make a really great mother, Spencer. You _love_ Pamela, just like you love Chloe and Damian and just like you loved Cassidy when she was a baby. Cassidy _loves _you. Pamela loves you. Chloe and Damian love you. Pandora and Mowgli love you. You treat Mowgli and Pandora just like your children. I can _see _how you look at them and I can see how much you care about them. Love is what makes a good parent, more than anything else."

Spencer sighed. She couldn't believe that it was still almost four years later and she hadn't gotten over it.

* * *

"How have the animals been?" Spencer inquired. On occasion, she went to help out whenever the animal shelter needed some extra hands.

"Alright. It seems like more and more are getting adopted, which is always a great thing. There's actually space for the animals to breathe now and there aren't so many in one cage. It's better. But we always want to adopt more out," Natalie answered before going back to the menu. "So did I tell you that I passed my exam?" she inquired.

"No! Natalie!" she exclaimed. "Did you just _forget _to mention it?"

"I thought I had told you! I got my results back and I passed. That was my state exam so now I have my license. Now, I'm just looking for someplace to intern. I don't know how many internships there are in animal pathology, but…I'm looking," she explained.

"No, that's amazing, Natalie. I'm really happy for you," Spencer assured her.

A few moments later, Caleb came. "Did you miss me?"

"Nope. We were plotting ways to get rid of you forever," Natalie teased.

Caleb rolled his eyes before sitting down next to Spencer. "You couldn't live without me," he retorted.

"Really?" Natalie challenged.

"Yeah. Who else would get you unlimited texts and minutes on your phone without paying for it?" he inquired.

Natalie rolled her eyes this time. "I'm going to be a doctor now. I can afford it, for once," she answered.

He gave her a confused look. "Doctor?"

"Vet," she amended.

Spencer jumped in. "Natalie passed her test for the state board, so she has her license in Pennsylvania and she wants to find something in animal pathology," she announced.

"Congrats," Caleb said finally.

"Thanks, even if you are the annoying brother I never had and never wanted," Natalie said.

* * *

"I have something really important to tell the both of you," Caleb announced.

"You're pregnant?" Natalie guessed.

"Are you getting your tubes tied?" Spencer inquired.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "If I didn't love you—no, if _Hanna _didn't love the both of you—you'd both be dead right now," he grumbled. "No. I think…I want to propose to Hanna."

Spencer's eyes widened as Natalie looked very pleased. "Congratulations, Caleb!" Natalie exclaimed.

"She hasn't said yes yet," Spencer interrupted.

"Gee, I thought you'd be supportive," Caleb mumbled.

"I am. I think the both of you are good for each other. I'm just nervous at how Hanna will react because of…"

It was silent. Natalie looked confused. Caleb finally caught on. "Oh!"

Spencer nodded. "And if you hurt her—"

"He wouldn't hurt her because I'd hurt him," Natalie assured Spencer. "Now what am I missing?"

Spencer and Caleb both looked at Natalie in confusion. "Emily never told you?" Spencer asked. Natalie shook her head. "Well…like five or six years ago, Hanna was dating someone. His name was Scott. They were very serious and they got engaged. It was December, so around Christmastime. About a week before Christmas, Scott was driving—home to Hanna, actually—and his car slipped on black ice and he drove into the river. Officially, he died of hypothermia, but he would've drowned; he was trapped in that car. Caleb was the first guy Hanna dated since it happened. But she still flinches whenever she hears the name Scott, even when I'm talking about my sister's husband and not her ex. She's still not okay to talk about it and if anyone even brings up any sort of car accident, she tenses up and changes the subject," Spencer explained.

Natalie frowned. "Poor Hanna."

"If you ever saw that necklace she wears with the two rings and locket, those were their engagement rings. His was the plain gold one that he had left at home that day and hers is the one with the little diamond on it. And then, the locket has a picture of him and another one of them together," Spencer explained.

"That explains why once, when I asked her about it, she got all tense and Emily changed the subject," Natalie thought aloud. "I feel really awful now."

Caleb shook his head. "Don't be. I mean, I know Hanna still gets upset about it sometimes, but she knows that she can't bring him back. I think she's accepted it by now, but she always regarded him as her first love," he explained. "And for that, I really appreciate him, too."

Natalie had to smile at that. "That's really sweet, Caleb."

"Here we go with the word 'sweet'," he complained, ruining the nice moment.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop being such a little baby."

"Guys don't like being called sweet!"

"Both of you, shut up," Natalie instructed. She turned to Caleb. "Okay, I know you, Sketchy. You wanted us here for a reason. What are you planning?"

Caleb smiled. "Okay, so…in two weeks, Hanna is turning thirty. I thought that I could throw her a birthday party and ask her there," he explained. "Would you be willing to help me?"

"Of course!" Spencer and Natalie replied in unison.

"And maybe Toby and Emily could help, too?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course!" they repeated.

"But for the record, I'm buying the cake because I have no idea how I'm supposed to bake for as many people as you're inviting," Spencer announced.

"Have you even met or talked to Hanna's family about this?" Natalie asked.

Caleb sighed. "Well…she doesn't get along with her father and her parents are divorced. She hasn't spoken to her dad in…a really long time, to put it simply. I've met her mom, and even though we got off to a rocky start, I think she likes me now. I think she'd be happy for us, if Hanna were to say yes."

"She's going to say yes," Natalie assured him.

"Well, we have a birthday party to plan!" Spencer declared.

* * *

**_Guest: _**_Thank you!_

**_arubagirl926: _**_Glad you liked it!_

**_Sarah:_**_I'm really glad you liked HTBAH! I'm glad you liked last chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it :) _

**_Guest (AS24):_**_ Thank you! Maybe I'll put in another scene with Toby and Spencer babysitting Cassidy in Part III. Here's the update!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you, lovely :) _

**_MilaMizz:_**_ I'm not saying Spencer vs. Hanna would never happen, but at this juncture, no. Oh, maybe you sensed it because you're psychic? _

**_Elana21099:_**_Oh, no I'm in the 10th grade (a sophomore this year). I don't really know why everyone has the impression that I'm suddenly a senior...? I mean, I don't think it really matters, but I'm just a little confused. Thank you!_

**_AL3110:_**_Is this really a pressing matter? Alright, if you **must **know (which I know you must), she put some of the cream on her neck. Happy? It's delicious. _

**_Guest:_**_I'm just boycotting the show from now on (but I won't because I'm weak). I just...why would you kill the most interesting character on the show? She's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...or whatever Churchill said Russia was (I think it was Russia, sorry if I'm mincing Churchill's words). I did see it earlier than you (I assume) and I wanted to cry, both when Mona died and when Toby was in the accident. I really thought Toby was going to die. I'm not a senior. IDK why people think I'm a senior. Oh, I think it was because I said something about my own book. No, I'm just being very unambitious with it and hoping to finish it by senior year, but realistically speaking, I'd like to get it done by the end of 2014. If you want to know what my dream schools are, Columbia and NYU, and being as both of them are VERY competitive, having published a book would certainly give me an edge, don't you think? I hope. I'd love to sign a copy of the book for you :) _

**_Guest (spoby4626): _**_Oh. Oh, cliffies are just my thing (sorry). The finale was literally the worst thing to ever happen. I don't think Ali is A though; too obvious. But maybe...maybe that's why she's A. #MindBlown_

**_eveningshades1107: _**_Another one-shot collection? Maybe you could do it :) I think it would be hilarious if you wrote it. I'm depressed, too, girl. Lol, I could never get a real-life Toby Cavanaugh, but thanks for thinking so. I started singing "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey when I saw "it's you!" I'm just a little tired. I will try to remember that. _

_Please uplift me, kind readers, and leave a little review or PM me or...anything, really. I am so sad after the finale. _

_Next chapter: Hanna's birthday party, courtesy of Caleb (but really Spencer and her OCD planning), Cassidy being a cutie patootie, and...that is all I can really spoil, actually. The next chapter is the conclusion of Part II, so there will be another time jump after next chapter. _

_And also, for anyone interesting in reading my new Haleb/Spoby fanfic, it's called **How to Be a Heartbreaker**. It's much more mature than my previous works, so...you have been warned. Please give it a read and let me know what you think! **-Kayson** _


	23. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note: **I've been listening to the Script all day, and all I can say is that after this chapter, you guys will still be alive but barely breathing..._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

"These flowers are perfect, and I swear to God that if one of you—"

"Spencer? Breathe," Toby reminded Spencer as he walked into the restaurant where Hanna's party was going to be held.

Spencer, complying with his request, took a long, deep breath. "Thank you. Did you get the cake?" she asked.

He nodded. "It's already in the refrigerator. How is everything going here?"

"We're behind schedule and—"

"You made a schedule?"

Spencer was not amused. "I really don't have the time to argue with you over a schedule," she proclaimed before walking over to fix some of the tables.

"I'm not arguing! I'm just asking!" Toby assured her.

Spencer rolled her eyes slightly. "Whatever. Just go and find Caleb and Jason and give Caleb the pep talk we all know he needs."

With that, she stormed off.

Toby, confused, walked over to Jason and Caleb. "What's up with Spencer? She was fine when she left the house this morning."

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. She's been acting moody all morning."

"It's probably because of the party; don't take it personally," Caleb advised before walking off.

* * *

"As much as I like getting my nails done, can someone explain _why_?" Hanna inquired as she sat at the nail salon. Cassidy and Aria were on either side of her. Natalie was beside Cassidy. It was Cassidy's first time getting her nails done.

Aria scoffed. "It's your birthday, silly!" Aria told her.

"I feel like there are hidden motives here," Hanna deduced.

"Yeah. We're dis—"

Natalie quickly clamped her hand over Cassidy's mouth. She removed it and Cassidy stuck out her tongue. "Ew. I don't like the taste of hand cream," she complained.

"What were you saying, Cass?" Hanna inquired with piqued interest.

"She was saying…we're…disengaging from the guys so we can have some girl fun on your birthday!" Aria announced.

"Disen-what?" Cassidy asked.

Hanna squinted a little. She was almost sure that wasn't what Cassidy was about to say, but she'd play along. After all, they _did _invite her out to get her nails done.

* * *

Hanna shifted between two dresses: one was a strapless black and aquamarine dress, while the other was a sleeveless white dress with sparkly silver straps.

"I feel like this one is very Hanna," Hanna commented as she held the white dress up. "But I also really like this one," she pouted as she looked at the aquamarine and black dress more closely. "Which one?"

"Have you worn either yet?" Emily asked.

Hanna scoffed. "Please. All the dresses I've worn already are either in the back of my closet or given to goodwill. It's my birthday. Of _course_, I had to get myself a new dress." Hanna walked over to her bed and sat with both dresses. She held them up to her body. "I think I like the white one."

"Do you _love _it, though?" Emily inquired.

Hanna sighed. "Since when was this an episode of 'Say Yes to the Dress'?"

"Oh, I think this dress is going to be one you're not going to forget," the brunette murmured.

"What?"

"I said…since when do you not overanalyze your outfit choices?" Emily lied. Her phone began to ring. "That's Natalie. You should get dressed for your date so I can get dressed for mine," she advised with a small smile.

Hanna smiled suggestively. "You didn't tell me you had a hot date tonight."

Emily rolled her eyes before stepping out of Hanna's room. She answered the phone. "Hey. How are things?"

"Well…Spencer's flipping out at everyone and Toby and Jason are trying to calm her down. Other than that, things are going pretty well. Oh, and Caleb still doesn't know how he's going to propose so he wanted you to come so we can all talk about it," Natalie informed her.

"What? He doesn't know how he's…_asking her_? Is he out of his freaking mind?" Emily asked.

"I know, but yell at him after the party, Em? He's already freaked out because he's asking her and there's no need to freak out Spencer, Toby, and Jason more than they already are," Natalie asked.

"Alright, fine. I'm going now. I'll be there soon."

* * *

Spencer lit the candles as quickly as she possibly knew. She handed them off to Toby.

"What are these—"

"Emily will tell you. Just bring them to the terrace," Spencer instructed. She handed more to Jason. "Go with him."

"Hanna and Caleb will be here in fifteen minutes!" Natalie shouted as she hung up the phone. "Everyone hurry!"

Spencer sighed in frustration as she lit the rest of the candles. She balanced five in her hands (probably not a good idea on her part) and went out onto the terrace.

"Wow. It really looks beautiful," she commented as she put down the candles. "You guys make a good team."

"I'd hope so, considering we've been working with each other for a long time," Jason said.

"The view is gorgeous."

After five minutes of mindless chatter, Emily came outside to join them. "What are you guys doing? We have ten minutes! We have to hide!" she exclaimed.

"Is everyone already here?" Spencer asked.

Emily nodded. "Which is why we have to find a good spot to hide!"

After finding the perfect spot behind some tall plants in the dining room and a ten minute wait, the guest of honor finally walked through the door.

Hanna turned to Caleb. She didn't look that amused. "Caleb, am I getting punked or something?" she asked.

Caleb just smiled. Seconds later, the lights turned on in the restaurant and everyone jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!"

To say the blonde was shocked would be an understatement.

"What is all of this? What did you do?" Hanna asked.

"Everyone is here to help you celebrate your 30th birthday. We threw you this surprise party," Caleb explained.

Hanna looked around at everyone. She couldn't believe how many people were there. The whole restaurant was filled.

"This is the part where you're supposed to take a drink and have fun," Aria reminded her.

Hanna smiled before taking a glass of champagne off of a nearby table. "I'll drink to that," she decided finally.

* * *

Hanna blew out the candles to her cake. It was a really pretty cake that Spencer had designed it herself; she knew Hanna would love it. It was designed with the best baker in Philadelphia. It cost an arm, but Hanna's face was priceless.

In truth, there were two cakes and a rice krispies-treat structure; the chocolate rice krispies-treats were structured into Hanna's favorite Christian Louboutin heel, which was situated on top of the actual cake. The cake was designed to look like stacks of Hanna's favorite magazines and was red velvet (Hanna's favorite) with cream cheese filling.

The cake was taken away to be cut and served when Spencer noticed Caleb turn to Hanna out of the corner of her eye.

"Will you come with me? I have to show you something," Caleb asked, although he was halfway out of his seat already.

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows, but allowed him to drag her away, anyway.

He opened the doors to the terrace and she gasped.

On the terrace was at least 100 or so candles that spelled out _will you marry me_? with rose petals scattered all around.

"Will you?" Caleb asked her as he showed her

She was speechless. So instead of vocalizing her response, she just nodded her head before giving him a hug and a kiss. Everyone was really happy for them.

* * *

Hanna walked into Spencer's house about a week later with the biggest smile on her face. She shook the rain off of her coat. "Jeez. I never thought I'd be so happy on such a bad hair day," she commented. "I still can't get used to having this ring on my finger!" she exclaimed. It was a very pretty ring and Caleb certainly knew how to pick one for Hanna. It was rose gold (of course, pink for Hanna) with tiny diamonds on the band and one modest-sized, colorless, perfectly cut diamond.

"It's a pretty ring. Caleb did a good job," she commented.

Hanna nodded in agreement. "So what are you doing for Toby's birthday tonight? You know, besides the obvious," she inquired.

Spencer shrugged. "Well, you know I already invited you, Caleb, Aria, Jason, Cassidy, Emily, and Natalie over. I'm cooking dinner everyone and when everyone leaves, we're going to have a quiet night. Well…a mostly quiet night."

"Well…you and Toby are both weird. I have no clue how you manage to go at it during your time of the month. I don't even want Caleb to touch me; I'm in so much pain. Speaking of which, do you have anything?" Hanna asked before applying some lip gloss. "I was in a hurry, so I forgot to open the new box of tampons and take some—"

Spencer paused for a moment. "Wait a second…"

Hanna stared in confusion. "What?"

"What day are you on, Hanna?"

"My third day. We're on the same cycles. That's why we're best friends. Aren't you on the third day, too?"

Spencer shook her head. "No. I didn't get my period," she realized.

"When _did _you get it?" Hanna asked.

"The last time I got it was…oh, my God. It was January," she thought aloud. "I didn't even notice, with planning your party and Melissa and Jason and everything."

"Spencer…" Hanna began with a huge smile.

"Can you go to the store? Please, Hanna?" Spencer asked. She had the biggest smile on her face.

Hanna nodded eagerly.

* * *

Hanna handed the bag to Spencer. "Spence, I know you missed your period, but I just wanted to let you know not to get your hopes up too high and it could be a false alarm," the blonde reminded Spencer as she went into the bathroom. "It's not your fault if it comes out negative!"

But Spencer was already pretty confident in what the test was going to read.

* * *

Dinner was fun. Cassidy made everyone laugh and a lot of time was spent talking about Hanna and Caleb's wedding.

Then, there was cake. Hanna made him a really good chocolate cake, which he (along with everyone else) loved. Afterwards, there were presents. He had gotten a bunch of nice things from everyone, but his favorite was probably the painting Cassidy had made for him of herself with him, Spencer, Pandora, and Mowgli. Pandora and Mowgli joined them every now and then, but Pandora spent a lot of time playing hide and seek with Mowgli, with Mowgli searching for her everywhere.

Hanna and Caleb had been the last to leave. Although she loved them, Spencer was honestly glad to see them go. She was brimming with excitement.

She walked into their bedroom with one last box in her hand. She sat next to him on the bed.

"There was one really special present that I wanted to give you. And I wanted it to be private," Spencer explained before handing him a small box.

He stared at her skeptically. Achingly slowly, he began to open the box.

"Oh, my God. Toby!" she scolded.

Toby laughed at her reaction before getting off the last of the wrapping paper. He opened the box. There was something wrapped in tissue paper. He slowly peeled back the tissue paper.

There was a pregnancy test. It was positive.

"Spencer…really?" he asked. It was almost too good to be true.

She was beaming. She just nodded. "Happy birthday." He pulled her in for a hug.

"This is amazing," he decided finally. "I can't believe it."

"Neither could I," she revealed. "We're going to be parents," she said, tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

He just pulled her in for another embrace and kissed her—his wife, the love of his life, and soon, the mother of his child.

* * *

_**Elana01299: **Did I get the numbers right this time? I feel like the only person who likes that Spencer got arrested (though I bet she'll be back home when we come back. Damn, all my OITNB/PLL crossover dreams are ruined). I think Mona's army disbanded. I can't wait to see how Lucas reacts. Hope you liked it!_

**_MilaMizz:_**_College? I'm sorry, I keep correcting you, but do you realize that you're spelling college incorrectly? I know, I'm a grammar Nazi, but I can't help it. Maybe there will be cats, maybe there won't be. Hope you liked it!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one!_

**_Sarah:_**_Agreed. Mona dying is the worst thing to ever happen to this show. And also agreed. Dogs are the best. I hope you liked it. _

**_AL3110: _**_You are so punny. I know. That was so important. So shmexy, right? You got it right on the nose! I already know you liked it. Unless you didn't. _

**_eveningshades1107: _**_I think I should have Spencer/Natalie/Caleb more often. Thanks, and I totally agree with his (and your) stance on divorce. That sounds like a good idea. I hope you enjoyed this one. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Good thing everything went well, right? Hope you liked it. _

**_Guest: _**_I think there's like a 4 hour time difference from Cali to NYC, but I'm not positive. But yeah. I cried. I almost started crying when Toby got into the accident and I just started laughing when we found Mona, like, "Is this a frickin joke?" And then when it was real, I just started yelling. I was so irate. That's interesting. It's good that you've known where you want to go. I hope you get in! Thanks! I think I'd wait to publish, but since the schools I want to go to are so competitive, I'd like to try finishing it before college apps go out because publishing a book (I imagine) looks good on an application. I am starting tomorrow (which is why I'm updating so many things because I will NEED something to be happy about during the first day). Do you get out in May? I'm just wondering. I know a lot of places that start in August go from August-May while schools here in the Northeast usually go from September-June. I hope you liked it!_

_So...I hope you all liked it! Review if you were happy! Review if you were sad! But you guys have been asking about this for a frickin LONG time, so idk why any of you would really be disappointed. Maybe disappointed in my writing...?_

_Anyway, please review or PM me or talk to me on Tumblr because I seriously NEED something to look forward to tomorrow morning. Bye! **-Kayson**_


	24. Chapter 23

_**Author's Note: **Again, there's another time jump here to Spoby's second anniversary as a married couple. _

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Spencer tiptoed past the nursery. She was so tempted to look inside and see.

"Hey! Stop!"

She groaned. Hanna had been over lately and was watching her like a hawk. This was her "great" idea in the first place and also hers and Caleb's anniversary present for Spencer and Toby.

Hanna suggested, given her meticulous eye for design, that she decorate the whole nursery with the help of Caleb. They'd decorate it for the baby boy or girl.

And as for the sex of the baby, they still didn't know yet. Aria had an idea for them to find out, aside from the typical ultrasound. Spencer and Toby had Dr. Reynolds write down the sex on a piece of paper, which was then given to Aria. Aria was getting a big cardboard box and filling it with balloons—pink for a girl or blue for a boy—and then giving it to the couple on her anniversary.

Spencer was perfectly fine with the arrangement for the most part. She was pretty tired from her pregnancy, so she was never really looking forward to getting a bunch of baby things and preparing the nursery. And Toby was busy as of lately, which Spencer couldn't put her finger on.

"No peeking!" Hanna scolded. "Your husband is going to be home soon. Shouldn't you be getting the place ready for him?"

"He knows that I haven't cleaned in like two weeks because I'm so tired," Spencer replied with a shrug.

"And it'll all be worth it!" Hanna exclaimed as she touched Spencer's stomach. Her bump was a bit on the smaller side for seven months—which understandably concerned Toby—but she wasn't as small as Tiffany had been, which made her relieved. Then again, Damian and Chloe were perfectly healthy.

Spencer sighed. She had been going a bit stir-crazy, but she was too tired to act on it. And then she was really tired of just sleeping all the time.

But then again, there wasn't much else she could do.

* * *

She was sleeping peacefully when she heard someone walk into the room. That was another thing; it seemed as though ever since she had found out she was pregnant, she was the lightest sleeper ever.

The person who walked in—who she assumed was Toby—slowly began to walk away, she said, "It's okay. You can come in. I'm already awake."

She sat up and saw that it was, in fact, him. He was carrying a bouquet of red roses and hollies. The amount of flowers he had gotten her in the last seven months was obscene.

"Are flowers just your favorite thing to get for me?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I like picking out flowers. My mom liked gardening," he commented.

Like it was on cue, Mowgli and Pandora came bolting through the door. Mowgli was chasing Pandora. Toby grabbed Mowgli and Pandora jumped onto the bed to snuggle next to Spencer.

"Have you…visited your mother recently?" she asked uneasily. Toby had brought her to the cemetery a few times, but each time, she felt a little…uneasy. It was like this big elephant in the room. Toby always insisted that his late mother would've loved her like a daughter, but from the way Toby spoke of her and the way she appeared in old photographs…she wasn't so sure. What if she just wasn't good enough in his mother's eyes?

Besides, it seemed like some sort of sacred thing to him. She didn't want to mess with that.

"I visited her last week and told her about the baby."

She always found that so sweet. He always spoke to her (and at times, about her) like she never really left and she was sitting there, right in front of him.

"What do you think it is?" he asked, breaking her out of her trance.

She jumped a little, startled by the sudden sound of his voice. "I don't really know," she replied as she put her hand over her stomach. After running her fingers up and down her stomach a few times, she had an answer. "I think it might be a boy."

"I think it's a girl," Toby disagreed as he put his hand on top of hers.

She smiled slightly. "I think…you're wrong."

"It's a girl," he insisted.

"Did you peek inside the room? Hanna's been watching it like a hawk," Spencer insisted.

"No. I just think that it's a girl," he explained.

She just shook her head. She had her motherly instinct. She was one-thousand percent sure that it was a boy.

"Where are the lovebirds?"

They both heard Aria's voice call out for them downstairs. Toby got up and pulled Spencer off the bed. Even though her stomach was relatively small, it was still kind of hard to do things with fifteen or so extra pounds sitting on her bladder. She gave him a small kiss when she got on her feet.

"I have your big box," Aria told them as she held up the giant box (which she was hidden completely behind). Jason and Cassidy were beside her. Jason had Cassidy on his shoulders. When he saw his sister and brother-in-law, he put Cassidy back on the ground. Cassidy ran over to them.

"Auntie Spencer, am I going to be a good older cousin?" she asked sweetly.

"I think you're going to be an _amazing _older cousin," Spencer replied. Cassidy just gave her a big toothy grin before she went to go find Hanna.

* * *

"We hate to steal your thunder, but we finally picked a date," Hanna said as she grabbed Caleb's hand under the table. "We're getting married on June 3rd. We don't know where yet, but it doesn't matter as long as that's our date," she added happily.

"I don't know if I want to know," Spencer decided.

Hanna just rolled her eyes slightly. Aria got up to go get the box. She then brought it back to Spencer and Toby. It was huge.

"Okay, so I asked the guy at the store to just tape it up as soon as he filled it, so I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl," Aria explained as she handed them a knife.

Spencer smiled and looked at Toby. "I'm going to tear off the wrapping paper and you can open the box," she said before grabbing the box. She tore off the wrapping paper as quickly as she could, making a big mess…not that it really mattered at the moment. Toby got up and slowly—and excruciatingly so, one might add—cut open the box. Spencer got up and together, they opened the box. A bunch of blue balloons came out of the box.

"I told you!" Spencer teased as she poked Toby in the ribs. "I guess my motherly instincts aren't so bad after all," she decided.

Cassidy grabbed one of the balloons while Hanna and Caleb got up. "So I guess now, we can show you our present for the expecting couple," Hanna said as she took Spencer and Toby by the hand. They both walked upstairs and walked to the room right across the hall from Spencer and Toby's bedroom. She opened the door to the nursery.

Spencer and Toby both smiled when they saw it. The walls were painted baby blue. Hanna had painted giraffes and elephants on the wall while Caleb put in ceiling fixtures for the baby to fall asleep to. But most notably, there was handmade white furniture.

"Wait, you knew?" Spencer inquired. She could recognize the handiwork from anywhere. She turned to Toby.

"I told him exactly what we wanted and in what color. He never saw it, though. Caleb and I moved it into the room," Hanna explained, stepping into Toby's defense.

"So that's where you've been lately…" she thought aloud and began to trail off. "You guys really outdid yourself. Now I feel kind of guilty. Everyone made something in here except for me."

"Hey, you made the baby that's going to be living here. I think that's kind of the most important thing," Caleb reminded her.

"Well, both of us made the baby," Spencer replied, giving Toby little flirty looks.

Hanna squeezed her eyes shut. "Alright, I know you have hormones and stuff, Spence, but please at least wait until Caleb and I are out of the room to practice making _another _baby?"

Spencer ignored Hanna before kissing Toby on the cheek.

* * *

Toby rested his head on Spencer's stomach, listening for a heartbeat. Every now and then, he got kicked, but he didn't really seem to care. Spencer found it rather cute; the two most important guys in her life were bonding and one wasn't even born yet. She could just tell, based on the way his eyes lit up whenever the baby was mentioned in any way, he was going to be an amazing father. She couldn't wait to see it.

"Have you thought about names yet?" Toby asked.

Spencer just shook her head. "No."

She ran her fingers through his hair, running her thumb on his ear softly every now and then. Her soft touch almost made him shiver. He ran his hand up her leg before pushing up the t-shirt she was wearing—_his_ t-shirt—up over her stomach. _She _began to shiver at his soft touch. He started to kiss her stomach every now and then.

"You're going to be such a good father," she murmured quietly.

"And you'll be an amazing mother," he assured her.

For the first time, she felt like it was true. And she did want to be a great mother. She finally felt like she was able to be a good mother; she was finally in the right state of mind.

"Are you happy for a boy?" she asked as they held hands.

He nodded. "I'd be happy with a girl, too…maybe the next baby?" he asked hopefully.

"I think maybe we should wait for this one before we start talking about another kid," she answered happily.

Toby pouted slightly, but if that was what Spencer wanted, he thought he could come to accept that.

"What are you doing tomorrow? I'm doing work stuff," he answered.

"'Work stuff'?" she inquired with amusement. He nodded in response and he had to laugh. "Well…I'm supposed to be meeting Hanna, Tiffany, and Aria to talk about the wedding. Emily is doing modeling things and Natalie is doing doctor things. What else is new?"

"Nothing. They're both workaholics. I'm surprised that they have time for each other, or even time to breathe," Toby agreed.

"I don't think I could imagine doing that, but I do think that sometime after the baby is born—and maybe not even until he goes to school—I want to start working again, but…maybe not as a French teacher," Spencer revealed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you loved French?"

"I like the language, but teaching it is dull and I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world. There has to be something else I like to do…" she mused to herself.

"With someone as smart as you, of course there is. Maybe one of the girls knows something about a job. You can always ask them," he told her before turning off the light in their bedroom.

Spencer certainly hoped so. She liked being pregnant and all—and she didn't really mind that she was always there for him, absolutely whenever he needed it—but it was kind of boring staying at home all the time and not really doing anything.

Spencer felt the baby kick again, bringing her thoughts back to her stomach and the little person inside it. "I think he's anxious to get out," she joked. "I think he's trying to kick his way out," she elaborated.

"I don't know why, though. I mean, he's got a good life in there: no work, free food, sleep all day, he gets to be with his pretty mommy 24/7…that sounds like the good life to me," Toby teased.

"I'm sure you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Spencer asked as she rearranged herself to comfortably sleep. "Goodnight, Toby. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary. I love you," he said before shutting off the lamp light.

* * *

**_Emilyjayden101: _**_I'm really happy you're happy. It's fine. I haven't updated in at least two weeks. _

**_caitycaits: _**_Everyone seemed to have a pretty positive response and I'm glad. I'm glad you liked it :) _

**_Guest:_**_I'm trying! I'm in the middle of chapter four currently. Writing just comes very naturally for me, but sometimes I hit roadblocks where I just can't get myself to write a certain thing. It's not writing block, exactly, because I can still write. I just hit a snag in something. Thank you! I think I started doing this like ten or twelve chapters into my very first story? I don't even know. I just like it. I mean...do you have an account? I really don't respond to emails. If you have a Tumblr, my pll tumblr (and pretty much my main tumblr since I never use my real one) is thefaketeam._

**_Sarah:_**_Thanks. It is truly very flawed but it's at least relatable so I'm glad you guys like it! _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I'm glad you're happy about it! _

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_Truthfully, I'm glad so I stop getting asked about it lol. But hopefully, when I'm in a better state of mind, I can write some nice Pregnant!Spencer scenes. But yes, I'm happy that everyone's happy. _

**_MilaMizz:_**_I'm so happy people are happy with the spoby babies. I turned spell check off on my phone. My computer is...another story, but I think I usually get it right, so...yay. That sucks. _

**_Elana01299: _**_I'm glad everyone liked it. And yay! You read How to Be a Heartbreaker! Hooray! _

**_mrs-cavanaugh:_**_GOOD :)_

**_vondydora:_**_Well, I actually did the calculating and (I made it so she got pregnant on Valentine's Day because I'm a clichéd person like that) it just made sense that she'd find out about then and...the rest everyone will eventually find out about. It's okay. Don't sweat it. But glad to have you back! _

**_Guest:_**_Hmm..._

_Okay, so now that you guys might be satisfied with this chapter, I do have something a little more serious to announce. _

_I've been going through a lot lately with my personal life for reasons that I don't want to delve into. The truth is that I've been going to therapy for some time but lately, it just hasn't been helping. I mean, emotionally, socially, and physically, I just have very poor health and it's a scary thing to admit that to all of you. I've been going through a lot and I haven't been very honest to people who ask me how I've been and I just smile and say I'm fine, but I can't really do that anymore. Writing about something so happy and domestic and all of this just isn't a very good fit for me right now. _

_I'm going to continue my one-shot collection because I need to finish what I started almost a year ago. I do not know when I'll pick this story up again, but honestly, my health is the most important thing to me right now. I've even picked school over my health before and I'm not even going to do that. _

_In the meantime, please do not send me any PMs asking for another chapter because I just can't do it right now. I'm really sorry if that leaves any of you upset or unsatisfied. I really do wish I had good enough mental health for me to continue this story consistently, but I don't. To clear up any confusion, this story isn't over, but I probably won't update for at least another two weeks. I hope you all understand that, and if you don't, I'm really sorry, but right now, I have to be more important to myself. **-Kayson**_


	25. Chapter 24

_**Author's Note:** Happy birthday Alliecat!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Tiffany watched as Hanna helped Spencer bring the food into the sun room in Spencer's house. Aria wasn't with the three of them, but would be coming soon; she had brought Cassidy to the doctor since she apparently needed some shots.

"I think I have baby fever," Tiffany said simply.

Spencer stopped as she raised a forkful of salad to her lips. Hanna was equally as stunned and struggled not to spit out her drink.

"I'm suicidal. I know it. I want a third child, but…I can't help it," Tiffany said as she looked at Spencer's baby bump.

"You're not getting any quick ideas, are you?" Spencer inquired, feigning nervousness.

"Does Shane know you want another kid?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah. I don't think he really is _opposed _to the idea, per se. He's a bit skeptical on whether or not I'm sure of what I'm getting myself into," Tiffany explained. Spencer raised an eyebrow. "I can handle it, okay? Chloe is like a little angel. Damian's a little more difficult. But really…what is one more kid when I already know I'm going to love them?" Spencer's somewhat-judgmental look did not wither away, though.

After some awkward silence between the three of them, Hanna piped up. "Alright, now that we know Tiffany is suicidal, can we talk about this wedding?" Right as she was about to pull out the big wedding book she had, Aria walked through the door with Cassidy. "Oh, perfect timing, Aria. We were just talking about my wedding."

"Did I miss anything?" Aria asked as she sat down in the seat across from Hanna, in between Tiffany and Spencer.

"Tiffany is suicidal," Spencer responded.

"What is suicidal?" Cassidy asked as she sat in between Aria and Spencer.

"Spencer!" Aria gasped.

"I'm sorry. Is that too mature for her?" Spencer inquired.

"I'm mature!" Cassidy protested.

"No, no, not that. Tiffany?" Aria asked nervously as she turned to Tiffany.

Tiffany sighed dramatically. "I'm not really suicidal, Aria. I just…I want another baby," she replied meekly.

"Well, that _is _pretty much suicidal," Aria replied. "I have one and I'm tired out with her. You already have two. You want a third child?"

"I don't get why it's so hard to fathom; there are families with like nineteen kids!" Tiffany responded indignantly.

"Guys, we were talking about _me_, remember?" Hanna asked. All the girls shifted their attention to Hanna. Hanna smiled in response to that. "I just wanted to say that…although I love all of you girls, I decided that I want Spencer to be my maid of honor," she announced.

Spencer smiled in response. But her smile became a bit worried when she recalled all the things she had to do for Aria.

"Okay, before you start freaking out on all the _responsibilities_ and crap, _I'm _doing most of the wedding planning myself, along with Caleb, but there are certain things that Caleb and I wanted the maid of honor and the best man to be a part of."

"So Toby is the best man?" Tiffany inquired. Hanna nodded. "That's so cute."

"Tiffany," Aria sighed, getting her friend's attention once more, "can we get back to the original subject matter? You want a _third _kid? I've got my hands full with Cassidy."

Cassidy sighed as she sat down near Spencer. "Mommy, your hands are _empty_."

Aria rolled her eyes slightly and Spencer laughed to Aria's chagrin. "Cass, it's a figure of speech."

"What's what?"

"Mommy didn't mean it literally. She meant that she's very busy with you," Spencer explained as she grabbed Cassidy's chin in that way that aunts and mothers sometimes do.

* * *

About a week later, Hanna invited Spencer over her shared apartment with her fiancé. "What do we do first? It's been a while," Hanna said as she opened her wedding planning binder.

"Only two years. That's not too terribly long," Spencer insisted as she took a sip of tea that Hanna made her. Spencer wanted to make sure this baby was perfectly healthy, so she decided to cut back on the caffeine as much as possible. Though she went through awful days of withdrawal, she eventually learned to adjust to the tea. She usually drank rooibos, peppermint, or raspberry leaf teas. Her favorite was the raspberry leaf; it tasted sweet and plus…it was pink. How many teas were pink?

"I'm rusty," the blonde insisted. "Okay, the first thing I think we should do is go look at venues. Do you and Toby want to come along for that? I know Caleb doesn't want to do it alone. And I don't think you'll exert yourself by looking at venues."

"Okay," Spencer responded. "Have you thought about where you want to have it?"

"I have a few places in mind, but I'm not tied to anyplace in particular," Hanna insisted. She closed the book. "I think that was all I wanted to speak about for now." Spencer was surprised. This was unlike Hanna. She'd been that girl who wanted to plan her wedding down to the very last detail ever since she was a little girl. But Spencer's thoughts had been interrupted mid-thought by a kick at her stomach. She put her hand over the spot on her stomach. "Did the baby kick?" Hanna inquired excitedly.

Spencer nodded. "He's been kicking a lot lately."

"Overachiever," Hanna teased, "just like his mom." Spencer smiled in response. "Okay, so are you nervous or excited or both?"

"Both," Spencer answered easily. "For obvious reasons. I'm just worried like…what if I'm not a good mom or what if I'm not good _enough_ or—"

"Oh, stop! We all know you're the best at _absolutely everything_, so that's not really an issue," the blonde assured her. "Have you talked to Tiffany and Aria? I'm sure they have tips for you. And…how does Toby feel?"

"I mean…I know he's a little nervous, but not like I am. I know he's going to be an amazing father. And I have asked Tiffany and Aria. Aria is inexperienced with boys, so she said she couldn't help, but she assured me that it's not as scary as it seems. Apparently, the motherly instinct kicks in pretty quickly, according to them. I don't really remember."

Hanna gave her a little bittersweet smile. "You'll be amazing. Just do it for him and think of him," she advised. They did not have to address who "he" was; they both knew.

* * *

Spencer arrived home later that night in the dark. Curiously, the only light on in the entire house was that in the baby's nursery. She wondered what Toby could possibly be doing in there; Hanna and Caleb had practically taken care of everything.

She walked in with piqued curiosity. "Toby?" she inquired as she put her bag down, took off her sweater, and kicked off her shoes. "Toby?" she asked, her tone slightly more amused as she drew out the syllables. She walked up the stairs slowly until she got to the doorway of the nursery. Toby was just sitting on the floor, looking around.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a little laugh as she sat down next to him—uneasily, one might add, as her bump seemed to get in the way of quite a lot of things nowadays.

"Just…scrutinizing my work. I think I need to sand down a few parts of the rocking chair," Toby said as he looked at the chair in the corner.

"Has my perfectionism rubbed off on you?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes, and I don't know how I feel about that," he replied honestly.

"So do you think the baby will be a perfectionist when he gets older?"

"Of course."

Comfortable silence fell upon the two of them.

"You didn't happen to play soccer when you were younger, right?" she inquired after a minute or two of silence.

"No. Did you, overachiever? I mean, you played tennis and field hockey and probably like three other sports I don't know about, you rode English—"

"Yeah, but that's a 'no' to the soccer," she replied. "I feel like he's going to be a soccer player."

"Has he been kicking you a lot?" he asked as he played with the ends of her hair.

"Yes, but…it's just a small price to pay for a child, right?" she asked with a smile.

He nodded in agreement. "I love you so much."

She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So are you excited to talk about being parents with Tiffany and Shane?" He stayed silent. "You forgot, didn't you." It wasn't really a question, since she already knew the answer. "I'm the only one who gets to use baby brain as an excuse," she reminded him.

"Are you mad?"

"No, of course not. But you're still coming, _right_?" she inquired, her tone hinting that she would more than likely become angry if his answer was no.

"They're coming tomorrow before dinner at about five. You'll be there then, right?"

"Yeah," he responded, dragging out the word for what felt like an eternity.

"Okay," she replied before kissing him on the cheek and struggling to get up from her place. After she left, Toby similarly got up, but instead paced over to the window. He began to call someone.

He waited a few minutes for them to answer. She quickly answered and they exchanged brief pleasantries. "I promise I'm coming tomorrow," Toby told the woman on the other end of the line. He looked outside the window at the backyard. "I need to come at like three-thirty. Is that fine?" There was silence as the woman responded. "Okay. I'm really excited," he claimed before hanging up the phone.

* * *

The next day, Spencer held Damian as Chloe toddled around the room, occasionally bumping into something which would knock her down, but she'd always get back up.

"How does it feel, having a baby in your arms?" Tiffany asked. Her hazel eyes were animated and lively, like they were excited to share their fondness of motherhood with someone new.

"It feels…vaguely familiar, like it was always supposed to happen." Her tone was not laced with sadness, but more like excitement and fascination for that moment she'd have a baby, too.

"Where's Toby?" Shane inquired.

"He should be here any moment," Spencer said dismissively as she looked at little Damian in her arms.

"Chloe!" Tiffany beckoned and the little girl came waddling over. Chloe climbed onto the couch beside her mother. "Did you lose your earring again?" Chloe blinked her sparkling hazel eyes in response. Her eyes twinkled with a sparkling-blue color due to her cobalt outfit. "I think yes," Tiffany responded as she picked up a little earring from the carpet next to her. She quickly went to fasten it in her daughter's ear once more. "Okay, go play now. Be careful!" Tiffany advised for the umpteenth time. Chloe meandered back to traveling about the room.

"How do you do that?" Spencer asked, somewhat impressed.

"Oh, it's a mom thing. When you become a mom, it's like all your senses are heightened a thousand times," Tiffany responded indifferently.

Not a minute later, a set of keys jingled at the door and the three heard the door creak open. Toby walked in with a bouquet of apple blossoms. "Hi," he greeted simply.

"It's a good thing you don't have allergies, Spencer," Tiffany said, "because if you did, you would probably die from all the flowers Toby brings you."

Spencer smiled in response. "Yes, and I'm sure that's why he was late." Toby could tell she was in one of her more tempestuous moods today; he was perhaps five or ten minutes late. But then again, it was another side effect of pregnancy and he'd deal with it like all the others.

* * *

"Wow, I didn't know that," Spencer said for the thousandth time that evening. She hadn't known or experienced any of the things that Tiffany and Shane told them about baby boys. Toby just nodded along as Spencer wrote another mental post-it to herself.

"It's really important that you watch the baby when he sleeps because boys are more prone to SIDs," Tiffany added. Spencer nodded. She knew that from her own experience. "I mean…it wasn't your fault, Sp—"

"I've heard it a thousand times before, Tiffany," Spencer assured her. Spencer _did _think Brandon dying was her fault, but she didn't want to open that can of worms that particular night. Toby put his hand comfortingly on Spencer's leg. She placed her own hand over his, assuring him that she'd be alright.

After some moments of awkward silence, Spencer piped up. "So what else do we need to know?"

Tiffany smiled. Relief was evident on her face.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you so much. That really means so much to me and I really hope you loved this chapter. _

**_caitycaites: _**_Thank you so much, lovely. I hope you liked it. _

**_Lexi3923: _**_Thank you very much and I hope you liked this chapter. _

**_MilaMizz:_**_Thank you! And I'm really glad you thought it was adorable. So much fluff, right? I'm not used to it!_

**_mrs-cavanaugh:_**_Glad you liked it!_

**_Elana01299:_**_Thank you and I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long! I just didn't know what to do with the chapter. I kind of like how it went, though. _

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_I tried my best and I'm glad you liked it!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. _

**_vondydora:_**_I'm the same. I have no patience, especially not for grammatical errors. And thank you so much for the review and your well wishes. It just means so much. I hope you loved it. _

**_Sarah:_**_That seriously means so much more to me than you could ever imagine. _

**_AL3110:_**_AND I WILL TRY TO FIX YOU (do you know that song?)_

**_eveningshades1107: _**_Hmm...I think I might be all booked up (jk). Yes, I finally gave you guys what you've been begging for for like a billion years and been annoying me with questions about every single day. And it was totally worth it. Emily at her DONE moments is so great. Aww I'm sorry to hear that. It really sucks, right? I mean, not seeing a therapist (because I find that to be very helpful) but I mean that things feel so bad that there's like no other way. You just got deeper than the Pacific Ocean. Spencer's right about everything. And ARE YOU KIDDING ME? of course, I know Miss Congeniality. it's only one of the best Sandra Bullock movies ever. _

**_Guest (spoby4626): _**_Thank you, but that's really not the type of story I'm writing. This is a happier story. There will be drama, but it'll never turn into a suspenseful story. I've actually included Jenna and Andrew before. But thank you for the suggestions. _

_So HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIECAT _

_And I'm really happy to be back. _

_Hopefully updates will be more frequent :) **-Kayson**_


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

"This is so pretty, Hanna!" Spencer exclaimed as she and Hanna walked around the garden in the third venue they were looking at for the day.

"I know! I was just thinking about how we could decorate it for the wedding. Neither of us is religious—obviously—so we weren't really going to have it in a church. I figured that if we did it here, it would look beautiful. But I really don't want to deal with bugs and wind and sun and…ugh," Hanna explained as she made a face. "I'm torn."

"That's true," Spencer agreed as she thought about it. Then, she piped up. "You could get a tent—well, not a _tent, _really, but more like a little piece of fabric that you can Caleb can stand under during the ceremony—and we can take some anti-bug measures. As for wind…well, how windy will it _really _get? All those trees and the buildings will offer protection from the wind."

Hanna smiled as she thought about it. "Spencer, you're a lifesaver. I don't know what I'd do without you," Hanna said as she looped her arm around Spencer's and they continued to walk around the field. "Aside from that, I heard that the rose garden here is amazing and there's every shade of pink you could ever imagine," she said happily.

* * *

As the women walked around the garden, Caleb hung back with Toby. "You're making a big mistake…" Caleb said wearily.

"Caleb, you're supposed to be my best friend and support me no matter what," Toby responded.

"How am I supposed to support you when you're being completely ridiculous?"

"I'm not being ridiculous! People do it all the time…"

Caleb just rolled his eyes slightly as Hanna and Spencer made their way back.

"I think I like this one the best. What do you think of it?" Hanna asked as she walked over to her fiancé.

"If you love it, then I love it," he assured her. Hanna smiled before kissing him.

Spencer winced in response. "You guys are disgustingly cute," she commented as she made a face.

"Ha! You should've _seen _you and Toby while you were getting ready for your wedding! You would've _gagged_!" Hanna exclaimed. "And whenever _I _pointed it out, you just rolled your eyes and said something in Latin I can't remember but it was something sappy, like love makes you ignorant or something like that. I don't know. Something about how Toby was the only person that mattered to you or some shit."

Caleb gave Toby a pointed look. Toby gritted his teeth and did his best not to roll his eyes.

* * *

"So what was with that tension between you and Caleb?" Spencer inquired later that night when she was sitting in bed. "I don't think I've ever seen you guys that annoyed with each other."

Toby shrugged as he changed out of his clothing. "He was just being a jerk. It's not a big deal," he insisted before walking out of the closet. He got into bed with her. "We'll get over it soon enough."

She just nodded along with it before turning her attention back to her stomach. "We're like five weeks away from the due date now, Toby," she reminded him excitedly.

"I know," he said with a happy smile. "And then, maybe a year or two later, there'll be _another_ baby on the way."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not the one who has to _have _this child," she said playfully before looking down at her stomach. "You're not the one who has to deal with nine months of mood swings, morning sickness, cravings, swollen feet, et cetera."

"But I thought you wanted more kids?" Toby inquired with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"I do, but…maybe not so fast." There was a sharp meow and a hiss before Pandora jumped up into bed and situated herself right in between the two of them. "And did you forget? We already have two children." Mowgli climbed up the bed not much later and walked over to Spencer—who he knew would give him anything he desired. Pandora responded with an angry growl before inching closer to Toby.

"What did you do to your sister?" Toby inquired before picking up Pandora, who quickly crawled up and stayed perched on his shoulder—almost reminiscent of a majestic bird. Spencer just laughed as Mowgli attempted to play innocent and Pandora continued to snarl.

* * *

"I've been thinking about something, Spence," Hanna announced as she spoke on the phone with Spencer the next day. Spencer was in the middle of chopping vegetables for dinner and Hanna…well Hanna was doing God-knows-what. "I'm bored of doing the same thing, day after day…what if the two of us started our own business?"

Spencer stopped in the middle of cutting carrots. "Hanna, are you crazy?"

"Spencer, just listen for a moment," the blonde prompted through the phone, "you're a natural born genius and I'm a good baker—and don't sell yourself short, either. The two of us would be a dream team. I'd do most of the baking and design, et cetera, and you would manage our finances and promote and other stuff like that."

Spencer thought about it uncertainly.

"And don't forget how this would help your new and growing family."

The brunette put her hand on her stomach uncertainly. "Yeah…"

"And Rosewood is just in need of a really good bakery, don't you think? The best one closed a few months ago and the only good ones left are the Russian and the Italian bakery," she explained.

"It's…an idea," Spencer responded uncertainly. "But Hanna, neither you nor I know how to start or even run a business," she reminded the blonde.

"But Spencer, you're thinking about this too negatively!" the blonde scoffed. "Maybe your husband is more optimistic about this…"

Spencer was almost positive that was true, but she wasn't about to let Hanna know that.

"Well…did you talk to Caleb about it?"

"He thinks it's a brilliant idea."

_Of course, he does._

* * *

"You're home just in time for dinner," Spencer said as she put two plates on the table. She heard the door open, but didn't hear much of a response other than the—oddly heavier than usual-sounding—footsteps of her husband.

"Oh?" She heard him walk up the stairs—and rather slowly, like he was just lumbering along, impeded by something. He was not back downstairs for another five minutes.

"I'm hungry! Where have you been for the last fifteen minutes?" she inquired.

"It has not been fifteen minutes, Spence," Toby said as he pulled out her chair for her and looked over his shoulder at the clock on the oven. "Maybe ten, tops."

Spencer shrugged. "Well, it might as well have been a lifetime. This smells really good…if I do say so myself," she said smugly as she served herself. "I've been craving a lot of carrots, potatoes, and chicken. I really hope you don't mind. I know we've been having stuff with a lot of that lately—"

"Spence, I already told you, it's not a big deal," he said as he watched her serve his food, too. "Now, your midnight cravings of Phish Food ice cream—not chocolate, not vanilla, not even rocky road, but _Phish Food_—though…that I could do without," he added with a small smile.

She shot him a half-serious glare. "You try living with an extra ten or twenty pounds on your bladder, mood swings, a sudden aversion to everything you used to love, and the inability to control what is actually in your bladder for nine months. Then, deal with me telling you 'no' when you have a craving for something insane like Gatorade and ice cream at two forty-nine in the morning."

"Okay, okay, okay!" he said with laughter. "I'll take your word! Jeez, between you and Aria, Jason and I could write a very thorough, very long book detailing the lives of pregnant women and how to deal with them."

She just scoffed. "Yeah, okay…"

* * *

"Calm down. Calm down."

Toby looked down at her. She looked excitedly at him. "You're supposed to be a surprise. How are you supposed to be a surprise when you're bouncing around like crazy?"

The dog—a beautiful German Shepherd puppy—barked in response.

"And you definitely can't do that," he said before taking her by the leash and taking a deep breath. "Remember, don't act too crazy."

_But who's the crazy one? I'm talking to the dog that can't answer_.

He decided to pick her up instead and bring her downstairs.

"Toby? Do we have any more ice cream? I think maybe…cinnamon bun ice cream? That sounds really good, actually," Spencer said as she took a cup of water over to the couch. Just as she was about to sit down, she saw her husband walk into the room with a dog in his arms. "Who is that?"

He shrugged. "She doesn't have a name."

"What is she doing here?" she inquired with weariness in her voice.

"She's our new puppy."

Though he expected to see some excitement and enthusiasm from her, the only emotion on her features was shock. "Why would you get _a dog_ without asking me first? Or even _telling _me?"

"Natalie asked if—"

"Okay, and I'm happy that you wanted to help her, but you could've at least _asked_!" she insisted before she went out the room as quickly as she possibly could. The dog, which Toby had since set on the ground, followed Spencer over to the staircase. "No! You stay here, Missy!" she exclaimed before going upstairs. The puppy walked back over to Toby with her tail in between her legs and her floppy ears down.

"It's okay, girl. She'll come around eventually," he assured her before picking her up. "I know she will."

* * *

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I'm glad. I hope you liked this one, too. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm glad you like it so much. _

**_Sarah:_**_I'm glad you liked it. Let's see how long this lasts, though. Hopefully longer. _

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_In case I didn't say it (I sort of implied it but I don't think I explicitly said it), Natalie was the woman. But I hope you liked it._

**_Guest:_**_Thanks. Now let's see how long my muse sticks around. Let's see how long my zeal sticks around (well...it's already gone, basically). _

**_pinkprincess007: _**_Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this. _

**_Spoby4626: _**_I don't think anyone really understands. I hope you liked it. _

_I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Sorry. My muse is being annoying and uninspired. **-Kayson**_


	27. Chapter 26

_**Author's Note: **I'M BA-ACK!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Tiffany opened up the bag from the drugstore to a familiar sight—a pregnancy test. She'd taken them at least seven times before (at least twice from when she was a little less than safe about protection, twice more when she found out she was expecting her two children, and at least three times since she began to want another child). She was more than familiar with the procedure. She just hoped that on this third or fourth try in the last few months, the test would come out positive.

All the girls joked about her being suicidal in wanting a third child. After all, she knew better than all of them that children were a lot of work. But all of that work was well worth it after holding the child and all the little things. All the things like Chloe calling her "Mommy," or Damian reaching out to play with her hair, or both of them grabbing her fingers when they were both a few months old, or the way they looked like little angels when they were sleeping, or just the way that her husband looked at them…all of that made the pains and tribulations of being a mother worthwhile.

After she set the timer and began to walk around the room, she thought of all the recent signs that might indicate she was with child. She began feeling easily nauseous lately. She was craving certain things and others made her want to vomit. And more than anything, she was late.

As she internally listed all the reasons she was, of course, pregnant, the timer went off. She was rather discouraged when she saw the test came out negative. She'd heard about hysterical pregnancy. She just wished that somehow all her wishing and wanting would make pregnancy _really _happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, though Spencer had wanted so long to be a mother to a child that would be hers and Toby's, she couldn't wait to not be pregnant anymore. Her stomach, although still on the smaller side for now nine months, was getting in the way of just about everything. The new dog Toby had brought home was not doing anything more to make things easier; she was following Spencer everywhere and getting in her way whenever she really tried to do anything. Spencer tried putting her outside for most of the time, but after about half an hour of being outside, the dog cried to be brought in. Spencer begrudgingly let her back in, knowing that if she didn't, the dog would continue to whine until Spencer gave in.

And to make things worse, the dog was somehow getting in the middle of her marriage. Though Toby continuously attempted to apologize for his whimsical adoption of a dog, Spencer refused to talk to him. She knew she was being stubborn, but she couldn't just forgive him for making a decision that would change everything in the house. She _wouldn_'_t. _

Hanna and Aria continued to insist that she had to make up with Toby. After all, their baby could be born at any moment. They should be preparing for the baby instead of fighting with each other over something they could resolve later.

She supposed she could see their side…the dog wasn't too bad after a while. Sometimes, in tranquil moments, the puppy would slow down and lie at Spencer's feet, her ears perking up every time she heard something outside. Sometimes, Spencer found that the dog followed her over to the bathroom and seemed to stand watch. It was almost…cute. It almost made up for the times the dog had almost tripped Spencer. Almost.

The puppy yipped when someone rang the door. Spencer quickly got up to answer the door. It was Hanna with a cake. She had become the official baker for any birthdays or holidays celebrated with the group.

"Let me see it!" Spencer said excitedly as Hanna put the box with the cake down. Hanna opened the box to show a very cute green cake—Damian's favorite color, as every drawing and every construction he ever made was in green crayon or made of green Legos. "It's really cute."

"I hope the birthday boy will like it," Hanna said.

"Are you kidding? It's cake. It's green. He'll love it," Spencer insisted as she washed her hands for the umpteenth time. The dog came trotting over and Spencer sighed.

"What? You haven't warmed up to the baby yet?" Hanna said as she pet the puppy on the head. She had already taken quite a liking to it. Spencer just sighed. "Spencer, are you really going to punish such a sweet and innocent animal for something stupid that your husband did?"

Spencer crossed her arms. "Hanna…"

Hanna sighed. "I know, I know. You told me not to get involved in it and everything, but come on. Just look at her! She's a little baby," she said as she resisted the urge to pick up the puppy.

Spencer sighed as she brushed past Hanna. "Come on. Don't we have a party to get to?"

"What are you doing with her?"

"I'm putting her outside. Toby got her. Toby can decide what to do with her while we celebrate Damian's birthday," Spencer insisted as she grabbed her coat off the rack near the front door.

Hanna looked at the little puppy sympathetically as Spencer led her out the back door.

* * *

"Trouble in paradise, hmm?" Tiffany inquired as she spoke to Toby who had barely spoken a few sentences to Spencer.

"I brought home the bod the other day and she didn't really seem to like that," he explained. "I just want her to see that this is a good thing for us. It could be, at least. And the dog needed a home."

Tiffany thought of what more she could say. "You should really try talking with your wife later."

Toby was about to respond, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Shane and Hanna started getting the cake ready for the birthday boy, indicating to the group that it was time for them to sing happy birthday to Damian. Tiffany gave Toby some meaningful glances. Damian's hazel eyes were trained on the cake as the matching green candles—it seemed as though Hanna had gone for green everything—flickered. Spencer's eyes went back and forth from the birthday boy to her husband.

* * *

"Are you going to give me the silent treatment for the next month or two?" Toby asked. Spencer remained silent as she crossed her arms. He sighed. "Spence…"

"I just don't understand how you could make such a big decision without even talking to me first! It's a dog. A _dog_, Toby. A living being that we have to take care of. We have Pandora and Mowgli already and now this child that hasn't been born yet and we have to manage a dog on top of that, too. Didn't you think of how I'd react?"

"I thought you'd like the idea and if I had known you were going to react like this, I probably wouldn't have done it…"

"Oh, you can save that crap. I know you still would've done it," she snapped before falling back on the seat as they drove home. "That's just the kind of person you are…" she mumbled quietly to herself. It was the sort of person he was. He was the kind who would never turn away someone who really needed the help and animals were no exception to this rule of his.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Toby…I know you. You're the kind of person who is compelled to call the ASPCA whenever they show that damn commercial with the dogs and cats and their sad faces, especially during the holidays. You're the kind of person who has to pull over to give money to the people who are holding signs on the side of the road saying that they lost their job or something and need money. You're the kind of person who donates blood every chance they get and would jump at the chance to donate your bone marrow if someone needed it. That's just the kind of person you are. I don't know why I'm so surprised that you'd do something like this since it was bound to happen anyway…"

"So does that mean we can keep her?"

Spencer sighed. "What kind of heartless person would I be if I said no?" Toby smiled in response. "But you're in charge of doing all the basics and everything, especially while I'm still pregnant. You get to house train her. You get to feed her. You get to walk her. You get to wash her. I officially don't have to do any of that right now," Spencer announced as she put her hand on her stomach.

"Okay," Toby responded eagerly. He sounded like a kid on Christmas morning who opened his gifts to find everything he ever wanted. Although Spencer still wasn't exactly an avid fan of having this new pet, she was beginning to warm up to the idea.

* * *

Spencer sat on the floor of the nursery and looked around. Although everything was perfectly organized, she felt as though something was missing—other than the baby, obviously.

Thinking of the baby, she smiled and looked down at her protruding stomach. She couldn't help but feel her heart swell with this feeling of happiness and almost euphoria whenever she thought of the fact that she would be a mother in probably just about a week or two. She just wanted this feeling for so long and motherhood was so close she could practically taste it.

It had been different the last time she was pregnant. The last time, she hadn't had this feeling of excitement. She just felt dread. She felt guilty whenever she recalled that fact of her pregnancy and she wondered if feeling dread during her first pregnancy made her a bad person. She felt bad in saying that she was more excited for one child than the other because of who their father was. Would that mean that if Brandon was still alive, she'd favor his younger brother? That feeling made her sick. She already knew what that feeling—that feeling of being inferior to a sibling and having your parents favor your sibling—and loathed it more than any other feeling. As a teenager, she vowed to never let that happen to her own children. But now, it seemed almost…natural and she felt like an awful human for saying that.

No, that wasn't true. After all, she had mourned her late son's life for so long. She should know better than others—both through experience and through the way she was raised—that it was better not to dwell in the hypotheticals. Why was she thinking about what would happen if Brandon was there? He wasn't there. He was a good memory she hoped she'd always hold onto. He didn't know sadness or real pain or loss. She should leave it at that.

Sooner or later, the newest addition to the family snuck into the room and curled up in a ball about a foot away from Spencer.

"What are you doing here, Missy?"

The dog's ears perked up when she heard "Missy." Spencer furrowed her eyebrows for a moment. After a moment of thinking, she called, "Missy." Without missing a beat, the dog promptly got up and walked over to stand in front of Spencer before she sat down. Spencer was a little impressed. She wondered if Toby had taught her that. But they hadn't named her. She wondered if Toby still hadn't named her in the hopes of persuading Spencer to keep the puppy.

"Missy?" The dog yipped. "Missy," Spencer repeated before petting the dog on the head.

"Alright then. I guess your name is Missy," she said a moment later. The dog seemed happy with that. Missy's tail was wagging uncontrollably, presumably at the thought of Spencer finally accepting her.

Spencer and Missy stayed in the nursery for a little while with the both of them looking around and scrutinizing the room.

"Spencer!" Toby called later that night. Spencer hadn't realized how late it was and quickly got up. She was going to cook, but she supposed that probably wasn't going to happen. As Spencer walked down the stairs, Missy followed behind.

"Did you make a new friend?" Toby inquired with excitement when he saw how close Missy was to Spencer and this time how Spencer was more accepting of the dog.

"We're best friends. You should be jealous. I spend way more time with Missy than I do with you," Spencer announced. "And I hope you realize that when we have this baby, our alone time will be seriously diminished," she warned.

He sighed. "I'm well aware. But I think it'll all be worth it. Having a little girl will be even better. Can you imagine another one of you running around?" he asked.

"No, but I can imagine a mini-you running around. Hopefully, he won't be a pain in the ass like his father," Spencer teased.

"I know mini-Spencer is going to be a smart-ass," Toby responded playfully. Spencer rolled her eyes. "And she'll definitely roll her eyes at us all the time."

"Shut up," Spencer said as she got closer to kiss her husband for the first time in several days.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I hope you liked the little dog parts here and there. I love Missy. She's just a cutie. _

**_arubagirl0926:_**_Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!_

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_Believe me, she will get tons of love from her mommy in the coming chapters. My muse is fickle. It comes when it feels like it. I hope you enjoyed it!_

**_euphoric-acidosis: _**_Oh crap! I have to respond to that! I'm sorry. I've just been all over the place lately. I read it and I think it's good. I had some general comments but I'll try to get into the specifics tonight when I look at it. I think it's definitely worth posting, but maybe just polish it a little bit. It's a gritty kind of story, so not too polished, but just clean up some places to make it into...I'm sorry I'm rambling. This is what happens to me on Thanksgiving and other various holidays. Thank you! I really hope you liked it!_

_Okay, all I'm thinking about when I respond to your reviews about Missy is my dog and how cute she looks because she went to the doggie salon yesterday and now she has little bows on her ears! _

_Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! And to all my readers, American and not, I really want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am so incredibly thankful to have all of you as my readers. Thank you so much for another amazing year and I really love writing for you all. **-Kayson**_


	28. Chapter 27

_**Author's Note: **Sorry. This chapter is sort of a filler. Hopefully, the next chapter will be more exciting (and up by Christmas). _

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"And how long do we have until the baby comes now?" Aria asked as she rested her hand on Spencer's stomach.

"He's due on November 7th. Nine days," Spencer replied happily as she looked at her own stomach. "I'm really excited and really nervous at the same time." She felt a little kick. She was used to much stronger kicks now; the baby sometimes seemed to enjoy kicking her out of her sleep. Spencer usually didn't mind, but as it got more uncomfortable to just walk around and…well, _live_, for lack of a better example.

"You're still nervous?" Aria inquired. "Why? We all know you're going to be an amazing mom. You're so cute with Cassidy and Chloe and Damian."

Spencer sighed as she thought of the baby in her stomach and he kicked her again. "Yeah, I know you're there!" she exclaimed. "Sorry. It's just…it's natural to be scared, right? Were you this scared with Cassidy?"

Aria smiled at her friend. "Of course, I was. It's like a stepping-stone to becoming a mom, Spence. But you need to believe me; you'll be an _amazing_ mother." Spencer smiled weakly. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up her back. "Hey, are you alright, Spencer?" the petite brunette asked with concern crossing her face.

Spencer was about to nod when the most painful sensation she'd ever felt coursed through her back. "No! No!" she exclaimed as she flinched suddenly from where she was sitting.

"Are you going into labor?" Aria asked.

Spencer took some deep breaths. She couldn't recall what labor felt like, but apparently, human childbirth was among the most painful in the whole animal kingdom; on a scale of one to ten, her pain was a solid twenty-seven or so. To make matters worse for her, her husband was not around and she truly thought this could be labor.

"Spencer, I'm bringing you to the hospital. I think you're going into labor."

Spencer winced. "What about Toby?"

"I'll call him and he can meet us there, but you need to go to the hospital _now_!" Aria exclaimed before gradually helping Spencer to the door. Spencer winced as the somehow dull and strong pain throbbed in her lower back.

As Aria tried to get Spencer to walk, the pain seemed to loosen its grip on her body. Then, as soon as she stopped to put on a jacket, the pain came back and it felt even stronger than before. Spencer yelped in pain. But still, she was very reluctant to leave.

"Spencer! Don't be stubborn about this right now! You might be going into labor," Aria reminded her as she practically pushed Spencer out of the door—while still being very gentle, as Spencer was still pregnant and possibly in labor.

* * *

"They're Braxton Hicks contractions," Dr. Reynolds said as she took a closer look at Spencer. "It's really nothing to be concerned about." She said this more to mollify Aria than to soothe Spencer. "It's the body's natural preparation for actual labor. It means the baby is coming soon."

Spencer nodded in response as she took a deep breath. Aria was biting her thumbnail nervously.

"And I expect to see you in a couple of days, Spencer," Dr. Reynolds said. "Are you all ready for becoming a mother?"

Spencer took a deep breath in response. "She's a little…antsy," Aria responded for her speechless friend.

"Don't be nervous. I think you'll find that you'll slide right into motherhood. It'll feel weird at first, but don't doubt your own instincts."

Spencer nodded slowly after a moment of thinking about it. Finally, it was beginning to set in that she would be an at least decent mother.

* * *

Natalie switched back and forth between channels as Hanna popped some popcorn. Emily was out of town for a photo shoot and Caleb was…well, who knew where Caleb was. Natalie and Hanna were on their own.

"Are you excited to be getting married?" Natalie asked as she settled on a sappy movie.

"Yeah," Hanna responded without hesitation. "Do you want to get married?"

Natalie thought about it for a moment. "Well…a wedding sounds fun and everything and I get that there are legal reasons you'd want to get married, but…I don't know. I never really dreamt about growing up and becoming a wife when I was little. A mom, maybe, but not really a wife," Natalie confessed. "How does Emily feel about it?" Natalie asked a bit more timidly.

Hanna shrugged. "I think she's pretty much indifferent." She shook the popcorn out of the bag and into a bowl before walking over to Natalie. "Even though I really like the idea of being called Mrs. Rivers, part of me is going to miss being the girlfriend. There's just something a little less _stuffy_ and a little more _exotic_ about being someone's girlfriend as opposed to their wife." Natalie nodded in understanding before taking a fistful of popcorn.

"So I was talking to Spencer the other day. You think you want to start your own business?" Natalie asked.

Hanna nodded eagerly. "I know that's sort of suicidal—not like Tiffany wanting a third kid-suicidal, but pretty close—but I really like baking and…I just think I can do it. And Spencer would be helping me. She's better at all the technical stuff, anyway. And what about you? I know you're doing an internship—"

Hanna let herself trail off. Natalie picked up immediately. "I want to see if I can find a job working at an animal hospital or something like that. I just want something a little more permanent."

The blue-eyed blonde stared off into space as she took it all in. "It's so weird to think of us all as actual, responsible adults. All of this just seems surreal." Hanna looked down at her sparkling pink diamond as she said it.

* * *

"What did Dr. Reynolds tell you?" Toby asked that night as he and Spencer lay in bed.

Spencer scrutinized her fingernails as she spoke. "She said it was false labor and that it's my body's natural way of getting ready for the baby. She said it's nothing to be concerned about and that it happens all the time and she would see me soon…"

Toby scrutinized Spencer's appearance. "You don't look so convinced."

Spencer sighed. "I don't get why, if it's so normal, Tiffany and Aria didn't have it. My sister didn't have it with Pamela, either."

"Spencer—"

"I'm just worried something is wrong or something will go wrong—"

"Spence? Breathe. Please, relax. It's not good for you and it's not good for the baby," Toby said as he took her hand and held it to placate her. She took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. "Do you feel any better now?"

Spencer took another deep breath. Truthfully, she said, "No." Toby sighed. "Can you tell your son to come out now? I'm tired and he's getting in the way of everything," she complained.

Toby just laughed at her. "Spence—"

"I want to see _you _walk around with an extra ten to fifteen pounds on your abdomen and see how you like it. Cassidy can't even hug me anymore. Aria can barely even hug me anymore!" Spencer exclaimed.

"I can still hug you," he responded before putting her arms around her, as proof that this was still true.

Spencer sighed dramatically before lying down. "And do you know how uncomfortable it is to find a position to sleep in anymore? I can't sleep on my stomach—obviously—and I can't sleep on my side since I always have the urge to crawl into the fetal position; obviously that's not happening. And whenever I try to lay down on my back, I can feel him kicking me in the bladder," she complained.

"I'm sure it's not—" He was stopped mid-sentence due to his wife's glare. "Okay, but it'll all be over in like nine days."

Spencer thought about it for a moment as she tapped her fingers on her thigh, thinking. Finally, she said, "Have sex with me."

He wasn't sure whether she was being serious or sarcastic in a weird way. "What?" he asked as he suppressed the urge to give into nervous laughter.

"I heard that induces labor. Please? I just want to get this over with," she complained.

"Spencer…"

She sighed loudly before getting up and dragging a blanket with her. "Okay, fine! I get that I look like a whale right now, but you don't have to make me feel awful about it!" she exclaimed as she went into the closet to get another blanket. She mumbled a plethora of curses and complaints before walking out of the room without giving him another glance. Toby just stared and wondered what this baby was possibly doing to Spencer; she had never been this moody before.

He supposed it would all be over soon. He looked over at Mowgli, who had witnessed the entire ordeal, before murmuring, "Girls..."

* * *

**_MilaMizz: _**_I really hope you got your grades up. I hope you enjoyed it! And you know, if you comment on the SOSC, I'll still read it! _

**_Sarah:_**_Thanks Sarah! And I hope you liked it!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Very cute. And thank you for reviewing. _

**_Emilyjayden101:_**_DRAMA happens next. (Jk having a kid isn't very dramatic.) Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this (filler) chapter and hopefully you'll love the next one!_

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_Missy is going to get even cuter in the next chapters (at least imo). I hope you liked it!_

**_Guest:_**_I'm sorry I took so long. But it's finally up!_

_What do you do when you have an awful teacher? The kind that's Grinchy and plays favorites? I'm all out of ideas. And what do you do when a rude person keeps calling you when BITCH you have like an 89% average in Trivia Crack (btw if you guys wanna add me I'm kayson3259). _

_Also, anyone who guesses the baby's name correctly (*cough* not you, AL *cough*) gets a very important honor (but I'll need to PM you). Remember: it's a boy. And to give you a hint, it's the name of a character who's already appeared in this story. _

_If I have Jewish followers (which I'm sure I do), HAPPY HANUKAH (and before anyone gets all preachy I can spell Chanukah however I damn please). **-Kayson**_


	29. Chapter 28

**Author**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Spencer was just walking Missy when it happened. Suddenly, she felt this odd sensation of water coming down her leg, which was followed by immediate sharp pain. Spencer, in hindsight, was not sure why she had been so caught off-guard when it happened; it was three days before her due date.

Missy, upon hearing her owner yelp out in pain, began barking as loudly as the still-small puppy could. Spencer, who was incapacitated by the pain—which was even more intense than that of the false labor she felt more than a week prior—shooting up her back and through her body, let go of the leash, allowing Missy to run up to the nearest house. She began barking and scratching at the door until a woman opened. She was ready to shoo the dog away, but heard Spencer's yelps of pain and quickly rushed over with Missy following close behind.

The rest of the scenario was lost in a blur of pain and screams. Spencer just knew that the woman who helped her called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. On the long ride from the street to the hospital in the ambulance, Spencer began thinking of everything—from what Pandora and Mowgli were doing to what happened to Missy to where her husband was—and none of it seemed to quell or suppress the endless flood of anxiety from going into labor. In fact, she felt as though it was making her even more nervous.

She got to the hospital and was taken in rather quickly. She tried her best to keep track of her own contractions in the meantime but found it impossible due to the sudden bouts of excruciating pain she had in between contractions. It felt like hours before Toby finally came to the hospital.

"Where have you been?" Spencer asked when he walked in the room. "I've been here for like two or three hours!" she complained.

"Spencer, they called me forty-five minutes ago to tell me you were admitted," he informed her.

She groaned. She remembered hearing Tiffany and Aria talk about their excruciatingly long labors. It had only been a little more than an hour and a half since she had gone into labor (at least, noticeably). She tried taking a deep breath but was interrupted by a contraction. She yelped in pain. "Where is Missy?"

"Missy is home." Spencer was about to ask how, but another contraction just caused her to groan out in pain. "I feel like I'm dying," she complained.

"I promise, you're not dying," Toby assured her as he squeezed her hand.

"Toby," Spencer moaned while grabbing his hand until her knuckles turned white. He was beginning to lose all feeling in his fingers, but didn't care since he could only imagine what she was going through.

* * *

Spencer was in labor for several hours before making any progress. Every second felt longer and more excruciating than the last.

"I don't know if I want to have another child after this," she complained after the doctor told her she was about seven centimeters dilated. She didn't know if she could stand one more minute. Toby brushed some hair behind her ear as he thought about that. He certainly hoped it wasn't true.

About eighteen hours into labor was when she actually began to deliver the baby. To say it was excruciating pain would have been the biggest understatement in Spencer's life.

"Spencer, it's not going to be that much longer."

The one thing Spencer could say she was grateful for—in this awful discomfort—was her husband. Toby had been nothing but caring and supportive the entire time she was in labor.

At 3:27 in the morning on November 6th, Spencer had the baby. She felt horrible and awful and tired after so many hours of labor, but as soon as she held the baby in her arms, she knew it was all worth it.

"Toby?" she asked quietly as she held the sleeping baby.

"Yeah, Spence?"

She smiled at the mildness and tenderness of his voice. "What do you want to name him?" she asked.

He just shrugged. "Do you have any names in mind?"

There were a couple she had in mind, but none really seemed to make sense now. All of them just didn't seem _good enough _for her son; their meanings just didn't live up to the person she could see him being—especially if he took after his father. And she could already tell, just by looking at him in her arms, that he was just like his father.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh?" the slender and meek nurse asked as she entered the room timidly. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

Spencer looked down at the baby before muttering a name. "Alexander? It means defender of mankind and…" She didn't go on any further, hoping he'd figure it out on his own.

"Alexander?"

The baby wriggled in his sleep and struggled to free his arms from the bundle.

"Alex."

* * *

"Can I see my nephew so I can spoil him? Where is he?" Hanna asked excitedly as she hurried into the room later that day.

Spencer motioned over to the baby sleeping in the little crib. She'd finally gotten some sleep over the last few hours, but she honestly didn't mind thus far. She just loved holding him and watching his blue eyes flutter asleep eventually.

"Spencer, he's gorgeous. What's his name?"

"Alexander. We're calling him Alex for short," Spencer explained with a happy smile.

"He's precious."

* * *

_**MilaMizz: **Good! And I'm glad you've fallen back in love with it!_

_**sarahschneider2012:** Sorry for another filler chapter but I hope you liked it!_

_**arubagirl0926:** I hope you liked it!_

_**Emilyjayden101: **There's more family stuff in the next chapter, I promise. But I do hope you liked it regardless :)_

_**AL3110: **Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been doing...God knows what._

_**Prettylittleliars-spoby: **Thank you very much and I hope you liked it! _

_So no one seemed to remember Alex/Alexander...but the first person to remember who Alexander is is a very cool person._

_I'm going to try really hard to update on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. -**Kayson**_


	30. Chapter 29

_**Author's Note: **Before I begin this chapter, I just wanted to clear something up. Alex is not at all related to Alex Spencer's Season 1 boyfriend. Just totally disregard his existence. I have. Please. _

_And also, there's another character in this chapter who reappears and he's a bit OOC from his character on PLL but honestly...I don't think that's a bad thing [with this particular character]._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Spencer caught herself humming as Alex grabbed her finger. She smiled at him. She was so happy that she was finally going to be able to go home with him. She was excited and nervous at the same time.

Ever since Spencer had the baby two days ago, all of Spencer and Toby's friends—and most of Spencer's family, since Toby didn't speak to his own family very much—had come to see Alexander.

"Are you ready to go home now?" Melissa asked Spencer soon after she walked into the hospital room. Spencer had barely noticed her sister's presence.

"Where is Toby?" she asked quietly.

"Toby is here," Toby responded as he came into the room.

Spencer finally looked up. "Where's Pamela?"

"She's with her other uncle and auntie," Melissa responded with a small smile. Over the last few months, Spencer had witnessed her sister and Jason get a lot closer. Still, she was a little surprised that Melissa left Pamela with Jason and Aria; the only person Melissa had ever let babysit for Pamela was herself and Toby. "She's probably playing with Cassidy as we speak."

There were a few moments of silence before Toby went over to go see the baby again. After a few minutes, the doctor came in so Spencer could officially be released from the hospital.

"Mrs. Cavanaugh, I'm Dr. Kingston. Dr. Reynolds had a family emergency, so—"

The doctor looked up from his medical file. A flash of recognition washed over his features. "Spencer? Spencer, right?"

Spencer thought for a moment as she tried to remember him. And suddenly it dawned on her. "Oh! Wren!" she recalled. She turned to Melissa and Toby. "Can we have a minute alone?"

Melissa nodded before Toby got a chance to answer.

"Do you really still remember me after like three years?" Spencer asked. "How are you?"

"I'm alright."

"Are you…married? Or seeing someone? I'm sorry if that seems out of line. I just…I feel…"

Dr. Kingston—Wren—shook his head. "It's alright, Spencer. To answer your question, no, I'm not married or seeing anyone," he responded as he searched for something else to say. "Was he…was he the one?"

Spencer tried to recall what he was talking about. He saw the confusion on her face. "After our…_night _together, you said there was someone else. Was he the one?"

Spencer paused for a moment before nodding. "Yeah…yeah, he is the one."

Wren just nodded and smiled. "So would you like to agree now to forget that certain things happened between us?"

Spencer thought for a moment before nodding. "No. I wouldn't change anything."

Wren just smiled at her for a moment more. "Well, your test results are perfect and so are your son's. You're both free to go," he told her.

"Thank you so much," Spencer responded as she got out of the hospital bed for what felt like the first time in ages. "And thanks for not making this awkward."

"Oh, it's completely awkward," Wren assured her. "But I believe in divinity and fate, so…I haven't found the one for me yet."

"Maybe soon," Spencer assured him.

Melissa poked her head in the doorway of the room. "Are you ready, Spencer?"

Spencer nodded. "I'm coming," Spencer assured her.

Melissa smiled before going back to pacing in the hallway. Wren turned to Spencer. "Is that your sister? She looks so much like you."

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, that's my older sister Melissa." Spencer saw a little glimmer of something in his eyes and debated internally whether or not she should address it. She figured she had made him feel awkward enough for the day, though.

* * *

Three weeks later, Spencer was frantically preparing for Thanksgiving. While she was excited—as this would be the first Thanksgiving as a family—she was also a bit nervous that everything would not go as she had planned.

"Spence, it's Thanksgiving. Why don't you relax?" Toby asked as he held Alex.

"But there's just so much to do," Spencer explained as she read a recipe for turkey. "Toby, I've never cooked a turkey before," she realized with horror as she looked at the bird.

He sighed. "Would it make you feel more relaxed if I handled the turkey and you took care of everything—"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Leave the bird alone. Just…just take care of Alex or something."

"Spencer, it's just going to be the three of us, Pamela, and Melissa—"

"Just stop talking!" she exclaimed. "Please. I know you mean well, but you're freaking me out right now."

Without another word, Toby realized that there was no reasoning with Spencer and that it was probably better to just leave her alone.

Spencer glanced down at the recipe again and suddenly began wishing she had a bottle of wine.

* * *

"Wow, Spencer. The turkey is really good. Since when are you such a good cook?" Melissa asked that night at dinner.

_Oh thank God,_ Spencer thought as she took a sip of red wine. "Thanks, Melissa," she responded with a small smile.

"I thought it was great, Spence," Toby agreed.

Spencer smiled. She turned to Melissa after a few moments of silence. "How is the divorce coming along?" To their mother's chagrin, Melissa was finally proceeding with the divorce. There were nights Melissa called Spencer crying about her failed marriage, but Spencer knew that both Melissa and Pamela were better off this way.

"I started talking to my lawyer about custody. She's pretty sure that he's not going to argue with me having sole custody and him having visitation rights," Melissa explained. Luckily for Melissa, her husband was being pretty gracious about the entire thing. That was one of several things Spencer was pretty grateful for this Thanksgiving.

* * *

A week and a half later, Hanna had dragged all of the girls to the first dress shop on the hunt for Hanna's perfect wedding dress. When Spencer arrived at the shop, Hanna looked pissed.

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked with confusion. She also noted that Emily and Natalie weren't present.

"Emily called me this morning and said that she's doing model-y things. She can't come," Hanna explained with agitation in her voice. "I'm not mad at her but…I'm more important, damn it!" Hanna exclaimed.

Spencer patted her on the shoulder. "Where's Natalie?"

"Natalie said she was stuck in the office," Aria explained.

"Or maybe they're both just in Natalie's bedroom…doing _adult _things," Tiffany proposed quietly.

"If they are, I'll rip their hair out," Hanna threatened. "Then, Emily is going to have a hard time using the 'I'm modeling' excuse."

Cassidy watched the whole exchange. Spencer had barely noticed her this entire time; she had been so much quieter than usual. "What kinds of adult things?" she asked pensively.

All the girls are unsure of what to say. Finally, Spencer came up with an answer. "Playing…Monopoly."

Without another word, the girls all went into the bridal shop. The first thing the girls did was try on bridesmaid dresses.

"I wanted something a bit unusual for a wedding. At least, I've never been to a wedding with this kind of color scheme," Hanna explained to the bridal consultant. "Everyone does red and champagne and even navy," Hanna explained as Spencer, Tiffany, and Aria all took turns being somewhat offended, "but I wanted to do something a little different. I'd really like purple to be the color of the bridesmaid dresses."

"Well…I'll go see what I can find," the consultant said after thinking about everything Hanna said. Hanna smiled as she left.

"So, Hanna, when were you going to tell us that you 'hated the color schemes' of our weddings?" Aria inquired after the consultant left.

"Aria, I never said I _hated _them," Hanna insisted as she examined her manicure. "I just want something different. Come on. How many times have you gone to a wedding where everything is entirely done in reds, golds, even navy…purple is a little different, don't you think? I just want something _different_."

Aria was about to question her again before Spencer just put her hand on Aria's shoulder.

The consultant came back a few minutes later with a few dress bags in her hands. "I found a few dresses. I didn't know if you wanted to look at them or if you wanted to—"

"Would you guys mind trying them on?" Hanna asked as she turned to Tiffany, Aria, and Spencer.

"After you so nicely insul—"

Spencer clamped her hand over Aria's mouth. "Sure, Hanna."

Aria swatted Spencer's hand away when the three of them were in the changing rooms. "God, Spencer. Cassidy is right; hand lotion tastes disgusting," she winced.

"I'm taking the long dress," Tiffany insisted as she took the only long dress of the three the consultant pulled.

"Your pick," Spencer insisted as she saw Aria eyeing both of the dresses.

* * *

Hanna was looking around the store with Cassidy when Aria, Spencer, and Tiffany walked back out of the changing rooms. The three of them stood before Hanna in a row.

"I feel like cattle at an auction," Aria remarked as she watched Hanna scrutinize all of them.

"I don't like Aria's. What do you think, Cass?" Hanna asked. Cassidy nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," Aria responded sarcastically. Aria's royal purple dress was pretty, but it was mundane. It looked more like something someone would wear to a New Year's Eve party than a wedding; it was ostentatious with its sparkles and sequins. It looked good on Aria, though.

"Do you like Auntie Spencer or Auntie Tiffany's dress better, Cass?" Hanna asked.

Cassidy went back and forth between the two dresses. Spencer's was a simple lilac party dress with a poufy skirt. Tiffany was wearing a full-length lavender-colored dress. It was one-shouldered with purple roses on the one shoulder.

"I think I like Aunt Tiffany's."

Hanna smiled. "Aunt Tiffany's it is."

* * *

An hour and a half of looking for Hanna's wedding dress yielded no results. The only thing the girls accomplished that day was picking out the bridesmaid's dresses. They'd even gotten Emily and Natalie's dresses. Aria and Spencer decided to be kind enough to drop off Emily's dress first. Cassidy excitedly knocked on the door. Emily opened wearing little more than an oversized shirt. When she opened the door, she immediately blanched. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to drop off your dress. Should we drop Natalie's off, too?" Aria asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emily opened her mouth to speak before a voice from the bedroom interrupted her. "Em? I think I changed my mind. Italian food does sound better. Plus, I really worked up an a—"

Natalie froze as she came out of the room and noticed Aria, Spencer, and Cassidy. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Were you guys in the middle of a game of Monopoly?" Cassidy asked Natalie.

"Yes, they were," Spencer answered simply.

"Oh, we just came to drop off your dress," Aria told Natalie. She then turned to Emily. "You're lucky that Hanna's not with us or she would've ripped all your hair out."

* * *

A few weeks later, Toby woke up on Christmas morning to find Spencer cradling Alex as she rocked back and forth in the rocking chair he made. Missy was lying down at the foot of the chair. Her ears perked up when she took notice of Toby's presence.

"Merry Christmas," Toby said.

Spencer looked up for a moment. "Merry Christmas." She looked down at Alex. "He looks like an angel when he's sleeping," she said softly. He nodded in agreement. "It's our first Christmas as a family," she added excitedly.

"It's going to be the best Christmas yet," he announced.

* * *

Later after Christmas dinner, Spencer went out on the porch with Alex. While she was outside, Hanna and Caleb came over. They had just come from Hanna's mother's house. Hanna walked over to the door to watch Spencer and Alex. She stood beside Toby.

"Someone is excited about being a mom."

Toby nodded and smiled in response. "And she's really a great one."

A beat of silence passed between the two of them. "What can I say, Cavanaugh?" Hanna inquired. "Do you remember once, a really long time ago, when a tiny friend of ours got passed-out wasted and we had a little talk about children…"

"I'm guessing I was really drunk for that conversation," Toby responded.

Hanna rolled her eyes before continuing. "Well, anyway, you told me one day that I would make a good mom. And in return, now I have to say I told you so."

"What did you say?"

"I told you that one day, you were going to find a girl who appreciates you as much as your friends do and you would make a really great father," Hanna responded.

Toby looked over his shoulder at Spencer holding Alex on the porch. Alex was sleeping and Spencer had the sweetest smile on her face.

"I told you so," Hanna sing-songed.

* * *

_**Sarah: **It's okay! Happy holidays! And I'm glad you liked it :) _

_**arubagirl0926:** Yes, he's finally here and I'm glad you liked the name!_

_**littlespobette: **Yeah, but...eh._

_**sarahschneider2012: **Thank you and I hope you liked this chapter!_

_**Elana01299: **Yeah but...let's forget about him. _

_**Emilyjayden101: **There will be more of Alex, trust me. There were just some things I wanted to establish in this chapter before I went on. I hope you liked it. _

_This chapter started out alright and then...it all went downhill. _

_So this is my first update of 2015! I hope you guys liked it and I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year's! **-Kayson**_


	31. Chapter 30

**_Author's Note: _**_OH MY GOD I AM STARTING A PETITION TO CHANGE THIS EDITOR._

* * *

**Chapter Thirty**

Hanna, Spencer, and Aria (and Cassidy) went dress shopping again in January. This time, Hanna's mother also came along with them.

Hanna was completely desperate at this point to get her dress. She'd gone to at least three different boutiques (she'd gone to some with her mom and without the girls) and the wedding was only five months away. She felt as though she was already far behind schedule for the wedding.

"What if I don't find anything?" Hanna worried as she changed into the first dress.

"Hanna, you'll find a dress," Mrs. Marin promised as she took a sip of the champagne.

Hanna came out in the first dress a few moments later. She came out in a dress with a sweetheart neckline, a lot of tulle, and a mauve-colored sash. "I hate it," she concluded. "It looks too much like Tiffany's. It's too…simple for me." She grabbed the skirt as she walked back into the room. "I want something like this but more…more…_Hanna_."

The five stayed in complete silence—with Cassidy humming every now and then—until Hanna came back out. She was wearing the biggest, puffiest dress ever seen. "I feel like a cupcake," Hanna remarked.

"You look like one, too," Aria said. Hanna took a glimpse of herself in the mirror before grabbing the champagne out of her mother's hand and drinking it all.

"Hanna, if you don't find the dress, there's still plenty of time for you to find something," Mrs. Marin insisted.

"No, there's not, Mom. I still have so many things to do. We still have to get a DJ, get a cake, send out invitations, get a caterer, dance classes, flowers…" she trailed off as she stepped out in her dress. Spencer, Aria, and Mrs. Marin gasped as Cassidy stopped fidgeting to look at her aunt. "What?"

"You look beautiful," Mrs. Marin remarked. Hanna looked down at her dress. She turned around and was almost taken aback by her reflection. The dress was similar to the first in the silhouette and sweetheart neckline, but the skirt was layers of tulle of different lengths. There was a beaded sash with a flower on it. It wasn't gaudy and completely ostentatious, but it was…_Hanna_.

"This dress looks like you, Hanna," Spencer agreed.

"Do you like it?" Aria asked.

"I…I…" Hanna took in her reflection once more. "I love it," she concluded finally.

"You look pretty Auntie Hanna," Cassidy said.

Hanna smiled. "Thank you, Cassidy."

* * *

"Can you believe Cassidy is five today?" Spencer asked as she put on her makeup in the bathroom mirror. Toby was listening to her as he held Alex and paced around their bedroom. Missy was following him around.

"I know. It seems like just yesterday you were trying to get her to eat as you babysat for Aria," Toby teased as Missy bumped into him a couple of times.

Spencer sighed as she finished putting on her mascara. "Okay, she was not eating. I don't know what you did to her, but you did _something_. I'm not _that _awful with children," she argued. "Can I hold my baby?" she asked as she extended her arms for her son.

"_Our _baby?" he reminded her.

"He's mine at the moment," she retorted as she held Alex close. "I forgot how nice it feels to hold a child—your own child. It's like I have this warm and fuzzy feeling I can't explain. It almost feels like—this is going to sound stupid—but it feels like someone took the fluffiest blanket and wrapped it around my heart," she explained.

"I know. And holding the both of you…" he trailed off as he held her from behind. She smiled. "How…how would you feel about having another baby? Not now…not until you're ready, but…someday?"

She smiled at him. She figured he would be asking this question sooner or later—and she was betting sooner—but that didn't make his asking any less enjoyable. "I'd love it," she said quickly without much hesitation. "And I don't want to wait too long. I don't want Alex and his little brother or sister to have an age difference of more than three or so years."

* * *

Cassidy gave her little toothy smile as everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. When the song was over, she quickly blew out her six candles—one for good luck—as she made her wish. After cutting Hanna's beautiful cake—a white cake book with pretty writing on it since Cassidy was quite the little bookworm, much like her mother—and eating it, Cassidy got her presents.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she exclaimed as she opened her present from her father. It was a doll with a matching locket from her favorite new movie. It was an animated movie with a princess and singing and that was about all Spencer could remember from it.

Then, she went for Aria's present. Her eyes lit up when she unwrapped it. She had been begging Aria to get the 64-packet of colored pencils. She absolutely loved drawing and art. Aria decided to get her the colored pencils, some cray pas, and a pack of paper so she could draw. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mommy!" she exclaimed before giving Aria a big hug. Aria smiled.

She then moved on to Hanna and Caleb's gift. They got her clothes (of course) which Hanna picked out. Natalie and Emily gave her a turquoise, pink, and amethyst—her favorite colors—scarf, hat, and blanket, all of which they had knitted themselves (Natalie taught Emily how to make the scarf while she worked on the more complex hat and more tedious blanket). Tiffany and Shane had given her a big pink stuffed dolphin—she loved dolphins. And also penguins and koalas.

She then opened Spencer and Toby's present. It was a bunch of history books for kids—books on the Civil War, women's rights, civil rights, the American Revolution, et cetera—and Cassidy absolutely _loved _both reading and learning about history. "Thank you, Auntie Spencer and Uncle Toby!" she said as she ran over to both of them and hugged them. Cassidy was completely ecstatic after getting all her presents.

Spencer was so happy with Cassidy. She was proud of her in a weird way. She wasn't Cassidy's mother, but she was really happy with the way Jason and Aria had raised her. She was never one of those kids who threw temper tantrums because they didn't get everything they wanted; Aria and Jason made it really clear—in a gentle way—that Cassidy should be grateful for what she had. The feminist part of her was also pretty happy that Cassidy's room wasn't filled to the ceiling with those awfully proportioned fashion dolls that gave girls unrealistic body expectations. And she was just as excited as Aria when they both found that Cassidy had a taste for reading. She thought it was adorable when Aria told her that Cassidy's preschool teacher said Cassidy spent play time reading the picture books and that by January she had read all the books in the room at least twice.

As soon as she got her presents, she immediately moved over to the living room where she began coloring on the floor with her new colored pencils. Bourgeois walked over and sat in front of her, watching as she colored some flowers and a sun.

"Isn't she the best?" Aria pondered aloud.

* * *

Pamela's second birthday was a couple weeks later. Melissa was coming over with Pamela since Pamela liked to play with the cats and it was just easier with Alex. It was just going to be the five of them that night. Spencer assumed it was because Melissa wanted to talk about her whole marriage situation.

As soon as Melissa and Pamela came over, Melissa sent Pamela to go play with Mowgli and Pandora. Melissa looked like something was wearing her down.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked as she sat down across from her sister.

"Well, I got the divorce papers today."

Spencer frowned. No wonder Melissa was looking so down today.

"I knew it would feel weird and make me uncomfortable, but I didn't think it would _hurt _this much," she admitted.

Spencer couldn't imagine the feeling. She didn't even want to imagine it. But she noticed how Melissa was still wearing her wedding and engagement ring on her left ring finger. "He doesn't want the rings back?" she inquired.

Melissa shook her head after a moment of hesitating. "No. He said that even though we're not together anymore, he doesn't want me to feel as though there are bad feelings between us." Spencer could see Melissa getting a little teary as she paused to think. "He said that even though things clearly went wrong somewhere between us, there's still going to be a part of him that is always going to love me."

Spencer reached out to hold Melissa's hand.

She tried to imagine if that ever happened between her and Toby…and then she stopped trying to imagine it because she knew if she did, there was no going back. She didn't want to think about how broken and hurt Melissa must've felt. She realized that's exactly how she would feel…

It almost hurt her heart to feel that way. It really hurt knowing that was _exactly _how Melissa felt.

"But it doesn't matter. Today is Pamela's birthday so we're going to celebrate it, right?" Melissa asked uncertainly as she wiped away a tear that dared to roll onto her cheek.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was in much better spirits. They were getting to the cake—the part of the day Pamela, unsurprisingly, was most excited about. Pamela's cake was a white cake with lavender frosting on it and an orange and pink butterfly. Pamela loved butterflies. And Spencer thought she did a pretty good job with the cake. She was still thinking about what Hanna said about opening her own bakery. It actually sounded like _fun _but she knew that there were headache-inducing components of owning your own business. Even though she was always up for a challenge, Spencer wasn't entirely sure owning a business was for her. She wanted to talk to Hanna a little bit more about it, but she knew how much stress Hanna was dealing with for the wedding; she didn't want to bring it up now.

Pamela smiled as she watched the three pink candles flicker and grow. She was really happy to blow them out and she was even happier when she saw that it was white cake with colored sprinkles on the inside. It wasn't _exactly _what Melissa had requested, but Spencer assumed that it wouldn't really be a problem for Melissa and Pamela.

* * *

Later that night, Spencer sat curled up on the rocking chair in Alex's nursery. He wasn't yet looking sleepy since he reached out to grab Spencer's finger every now and then, but Spencer knew he'd eventually succumb to the allure of sleep. Toby was enjoying watching them.

"I think I sort of want a girl," Spencer said softly as Alex grabbed her thumb. "You know you can come over here, right?" she asked as she finally looked up at Toby.

"I like looking at you from over here. It's a different vantage point," he insisted.

She shook her head in amusement. "Artists…" she muttered.

"Artists? What's wrong with artists?" Toby asked with a fake-offended tone in his voice.

"Nothing!" she insisted. "I think you're adorable with your ISFP/composer/artist personality type."

"ISFP? What is that? Is that code for something I'm supposed to know?" Alex inquired.

She shook her head. "You're ISFP. I'm ESTJ…I just feel like Alex is going to be ISFJ…or ISTP. You know, something that's a perfect mix of the both of our personalities?"

"You're just spitting a bunch of letters at me now, Spence."

"It's kind of funny. You're an artist at heart, but you could also be an architect or a protector…maybe you're not ISFP. Maybe you're ISFJ or ISTP…"

Toby sighed. "Bye, Spencer. I'll be in bed."

"I'm coming soon, I promise! As soon as Alex goes to sleep," she said as she looked at Alex. His eyes were drooping quickly. She smiled.

* * *

**_MilaMizz: _**_Well this won't be the last we'll be seeing of Wren so I'm glad you liked him! Thank you so much!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you!_

**_AL3110: _**_Didn't I tell you already where this is all going? Don't spoil it for anyone! And yes, of course, you're on to me. MONOPOLY IS THE FREAKING MOST ANNOYING GAME ON EARTH because it actually takes like three hours to play and that's just with like two people. My friend and I tried it once. Not pretty. Cassidy's a bae and it's alright. You're here now. That's all that really matters. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thank you. _

**_Guest: _**_Oh, don't worry. I read a shameful amount of fanfiction it's actually very sad. But thank you so much! Which one is your favorite? You'll see. I'm not delving too much into things. I'm hoping for around 50 chapters and not any more. Again, thank you!_

**_Elana01299: _**_Thank you!_

**_Guest: _**_Thanks! I really tried to make him more dimensional and like I said, he's going to be back. Trust me, there will be DRAMA. Expect about four more chapters of fluff and then I will be hitting everyone where it really hurts. _

**_Prettylittleliars-spoby: _**_I hope you liked the last little tidbit then! Thanks for reviewing and reading._

**_Emilyjayden101: _**_Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter. _

_Fun fact about me: I'm the same personality type as Toby Cavanaugh (ISFP, according to various sources)._

_And also, PLL IS BACK ON TONIGHT! The only reason I updated this quickly was because it's PLL premiere day and I wanted to celebrate. Happy birthday to everyone. **-Kayson**_


	32. Chapter 31

**_ Author's Note: _**_I'm finally back!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One**

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?" Cassidy asked as she had taken a break from coloring. Spencer and Hanna looked up from their lunch and Hanna's wedding book.

"Well, sweetie, when Mommy and Daddy got married, they never got to take a vacation to celebrate like a lot of couples do because they had you. They were happy to go home and have you around, but now that you're older, they're taking a little trip by themselves," Hanna explained.

"And you get to stay with me and Uncle Toby," Spencer reminded her with a smile.

Cassidy smiled as she went back to her grilled cheese sandwich.

"Okay, so I've gone over everything like twelve thousand times. I really feel like we're basically ready for this wedding," Hanna announced nervously.

Spencer squinted. "You look kind of anxious for someone who has everything under control. What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I just feel like…everything is _too _perfect. I feel like I'm forgetting something or I'm missing something…I don't know," she repeated. "I know it's stupid—"

"Han, it's not stupid," Spencer insisted. "Everyone gets cold feet—"

"So I'll put on socks!" Hanna exclaimed. "I'm sorry. It's not cold feet. It's just…I'm scared. I'm worried. But I feel like I don't know what I'm scared of or worried about. I guess I just wonder if it's wrong."

Spencer sighed. "Hanna, do you love Caleb?"

Hanna nodded without hesitation. "I love him like I've only ever loved—"

There was awkward silence between the two of them. "Is that why you're scared?" Spencer asked.

Hanna looked down self-consciously. "But it's different in a weird way. It's more…more…more _intense_," she explained as she settled for a word. "It's _deeper _and I feel like an awful person saying that."

"You're not, Hanna," Spencer assured her. "You're not an awful person for being happy. It's what he would want," she assured her friend. "When you love someone, all you want is their happiness and even if your love didn't feel as fiery and as intense with Scott as it does with Caleb, you can't dismiss that it was still love."

* * *

"Auntie Spencer?"

Spencer hesitated for a moment before responding to Cassidy. "Yes?"

Cassidy looked up from her drawing to stare at Spencer, who was in the rocking chair in Alex's nursery. "Why do you sit in the rocking chair?"

"Sometimes, it's the only way to get Alex to go to sleep," she said softly. "I know you definitely don't remember this, but it was sometimes the only way your mom and I got you to go asleep when you were a baby like he is," Spencer said as she smiled fondly at the memory.

Cassidy looked down at her drawing again with a bigger smile on her face. "I wish I had a room like Alex's," she commented to nobody in particular.

"You know, Auntie Hanna and Uncle Caleb designed it for him, right?"

"Really?" Cassidy inquired.

"I think when you're older, you should ask Hanna to help you decorate your room. She knows everything about decorating things…" Spencer trailed off as she noticed Alex finally went to sleep. Slowly, she got up and put him down in his crib. "Do you want to get out of here? I don't want to wake your cousin up now," Spencer said as she held her hand out to help Cassidy up. "You can be my baking assistant. I thought that we could have chocolate chip cookies after dinner."

Cassidy quickly got up and grabbed all her art things. If there was one thing Cassidy loved, it was chocolate chip cookies.

* * *

Toby was greeted by the smell of fresh-baked cookies when he came home. He also heard Spencer and Cassidy laughing in the kitchen. Curiously, he turned the corner to see the both of them standing at the counter.

"You got flour all over me!" Cassidy exclaimed as she sprinkled some flour on Spencer.

"Did you forget who spilled the vanilla on her aunt?" Spencer asked. Cassidy continued giggling as she tried to hide from Spencer.

"What are my two favorite girls doing?" Toby asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"We were baking until Auntie Spencer started attacking me!" Cassidy shouted.

"_Me_?" Spencer asked dramatically. "_You _started it!"

Cassidy laughed and ran behind Toby. "If you want to get me, you'll have to get past Uncle Toby first!" she proclaimed as she hid behind him.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Spencer cried.

"I think you should form a truce with Aunt Spencer," Toby suggested.

"What do I get out of it if I do?" Clearly, Cassidy had been spending a lot of time with negotiator Spencer.

Toby thought for a moment. "I'll give you a piggyback ride around the whole house. And I'll also let you stay up half an hour later," he proposed.

"Toby!" Spencer scolded. "It's a school night!"

"I really don't think she needs to go to bed at seven-thirty when she can wake up at seven tomorrow morning," Toby argued.

Spencer sighed in response. Though she sort of agreed, she didn't want Cassidy to go tell neurotic Aria about this change in bedtime.

"Deal," Cassidy said while extending her hand to shake her uncle's.

"I'll tell Aria to kill you if she finds out about this," Spencer murmured under her breath as she put the cookies in the oven.

"What are you making for dinner?" Toby inquired as he stepped around the question. Cassidy ran off to go play with Missy.

"You know, this is the 21st Century. I don't know why women are still expected to slave in the kitchen and cook for her husband and her family. I mean, that's—"

"You totally forgot didn't you?" Toby asked with a small smile on her face.

"Yes," Spencer confessed. "I've been hanging out with Cassidy all day and…it just feels so good to be the cool aunt for once; that's always been Hanna's place. I just got so excited—"

"Spence!" Toby interrupted as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't expect you to cook dinner or clean or do laundry or do any of those 'housewife' things," he told her. "Is pizza on Aria's approved list of foods Cassidy can eat?" he joked.

Spencer laughed. "I'm pretty sure pizza is alright as long as it's organic cheese and tomatoes," she said. "Aria is morally opposed to factory farms that mistreat cows," she explained.

"Will Cassidy eat tomato and basil?" Toby asked.

"She's not picky. I think she eats more than Aria," Spencer joked. "Don't tell Aria, but Jason told me that Cassidy has tried bacon before."

* * *

Cassidy sat happily at the table in between Alex's high chair and Toby. "What is this called again?" Cassidy asked as she took a bite of the pizza.

"Tomato basil," Spencer responded as she wiped some carrots off of Alex's face. "So you really like it?"

Cassidy nodded unremittingly. "I love it," she responded with a smile.

"And I heard about what was for dessert…" Toby trailed off as he smiled at Cassidy. The little girl smiled in response. "Did Aunt Spencer teach you everything there is to know about baking cookies?"

Cassidy nodded. "We didn't taste them yet, but I bet they're the best cookies _ever_!" she exclaimed.

* * *

"Mommy, where are you and Daddy?" Cassidy asked as she sat on the couch and spoke to her mom on the phone later that night. "Are you going to bring me to…_Bermuda_…when I get older?" Cassidy repeated the word carefully so she got it right. "Are the beaches really pink?!" Pink was one of her favorite colors. "I can't wait to go there one day. You got to swim with fishes, too?!" Cassidy loved fish. "I want to go there!"

Spencer smiled as she put some cookies on a plate. Toby also smiled at Cassidy while he played with Missy. "She's so precious, isn't she?" Spencer asked.

Toby nodded in agreement. "She's my second favorite girl," he said. "By a very small margin, so don't get too cocky."

Spencer rolled her eyes light-heartedly. "Well, you are not my favorite boy, then," Spencer retorted. "You were…about six months ago."

"Hmm…who is this other guy? Do I have to fight him to win your affections?" Spencer just laughed at him.

"I'm sure he could beat you," she joked.

"Yeah, you're probably right…"

Cassidy came skipping over not much later. She handed the phone to Spencer. "Thank you, Aunt Spencer." She finally took in what Spencer was doing. "Are we eating cookies now?" Cassidy asked excitedly. Spencer nodded as she put another cookie on the plate and placed it on the table in front of them. Missy stopped playing with Toby and curiously began sniffing the table as best she could.

"No," Spencer told the dog sternly. Missy hung her head as she began walking away with her tail between her legs.

* * *

Cassidy had—somehow, likely because her big hazel eyes made Toby weak—eaten about four or five cookies and, after a sugar high that had lasted less than an hour, she began to crash. In fact, she had crashed rather suddenly. One moment, Spencer saw Cassidy buzzing about the house and the next, she was curled up on the couch and fast asleep with Missy as her snuggling partner.

"I told you to only let her have two cookies."

Toby nodded in agreement before he carefully picked up Cassidy. She didn't even stir.

"I'll be upstairs in a minute," Spencer said as she heard Toby walk up the stairs. She sat down on the couch and Missy quickly walked over to Spencer before laying her head on Spencer's lap. "You know, I wish I could tell you you're not supposed to be on the couch, but then I'd have no one to talk to." Missy moved her head. Spencer took this as a little sign that she was listening. "I wonder what would've happened if I had married Andrew…"

She felt as though she had been wondering that a lot lately. It wasn't because she longed for the life she once had—not at all. She couldn't put her finger on why she'd been wondering so much lately, but she thought it might have something to do with Cassidy's presence. After all, Cassidy—to some extent—reminded her of Brandon, and Brandon, of course, reminded her of his father.

What would their wedding be like?

Since Andrew was the kind of person to want to keep up the façade of a proper and noble life, he'd probably insist that the wedding happened quickly. Being the powerful and rich person he was, he'd probably want something gaudy and ostentatious—not because it was the kind of person he was, but because it would show everyone else how happy he was (even if he was not really). They would still go on a beautiful honeymoon like he had originally discussed. When they came back from whatever island he decided on, she'd still be stuck in the house while he was doing God-knows-what with God-knows-who.

Nothing probably would happen with Brandon except that he'd become attached to Spencer and either crushed by or indifferent to his father's absence. Spencer didn't think that they'd have another child anytime soon. She figured that she would become quite unhappy in the marriage after the honeymoon.

She wondered if she'd ever ask for a divorce. Maybe her marriage would end up like Melissa's.

But maybe she was completely wrong. Maybe she'd go through life thinking she loved Andrew while not fully realizing that she was not _in love _with him.

She soon discovered that the puppy had fallen asleep in her arms, too. It seemed as though Cassidy had worn her out. Spencer smiled before leaving Missy curled up on the couch. She figured that one night wouldn't do the couch any harm.

* * *

"How was she?" Aria asked two days later when she came to pick up Cassidy.

"She was great. We loved having her here. Where's Jason?" Spencer inquired curiously.

"Oh, he had to do some things at the office—he's always working—but he promised me that he'd be home for dinner, so he should be back soon," Aria explained as she took off her jacket.

Spencer walked inside the living room with Aria. "Cassidy is upstairs, probably sleeping. She and Toby went to the park with Missy this morning and Toby told me that Cassidy was running around with her. She looked really tired when they came back," Spencer explained as she made coffee.

"It's better than her being hyper, I guess," Aria said as she sat down.

"So I want to hear all about the honeymoon," Spencer said as she leaned against the counter and turned to Aria. "How was it?"

Aria smiled as she thought of it. "It was great," Aria answered. "Bermuda is so pretty…"

"Did you bring Cassidy back any pink sand? She'll cherish it with her life," Spencer joked.

"I did actually sneak some sand off the beach, but don't tell anyone because apparently that's illegal," Aria explained as she opened her bag and pulled out a small vial of sand. "It looks a lot pinker when it's wet. Did you know that it's pink because apparently there are some fish in Bermuda that get crushed by the ocean and they wash up on the shore? I didn't know that. It almost feels sort of morbid."

"I'll keep that in mind," Spencer said as she pulled out two mugs for coffee. "I'm glad that you and Jason had a good time, but please save all the dirty details for Hanna and Emily. That's my brother we're talking about, remember."

Aria blushed just thinking about it. "I swear I won't talk about it to you. I don't know if I even really want to talk about it with Hanna and Emily," she confessed.

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before frowning. "Oh…ew, Aria!"

Aria sank back in her seat. "It was nice finally being alone, though. I mean, if you think about it, we've never _really _been alone. Cassidy's always sort of been there."

Spencer nodded in agreement as she brought over two cups of coffee. "I'm really happy you had a good time, though," Spencer said as she took a sip of black coffee. "I'm really happy."

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ That episode was something, wasn't it? I'm very conflicted about PLL right now. Some parts I love and other parts are...eh...but we will always have fanfic, right? I hope you liked it!_

**_Elana01299:_** _I'm glad you liked it! this one was probably also a cutesy chapter. Enjoy it while it lasts. _

**_Guest: _**_I do not know what I will be doing after those 50 chapters, but it will probably have to be at least that long (Part III cuts off at Chapter 33 and there are still two more parts). I don't want to drag this story out any more than I already think it is being dragged out, though...I'm really glad you liked those! Did you have any favorite one-shots from the SOSC? My friend (AL's) favorite is Ride, as she keeps telling me over and over. I feel like the one-shots after the 200th were kind of strong (compared to the earlier ones) but I'm curious to know what you thought. Hmm...careful what you wish for! Thanks for reviewing!_

**_arubagirl0926:_** _Thank you. I wish I could actually update on PLL day, but well...life happens. _

**_Guest:_** _It's alright! I obviously took me like a month to update this, so that's alright. You could look up the free personality test on google, if you're ever bored. I think it's MBTI personality type (but I confuse letters/numbers all the time) and it's also called the Myers-Briggs test. _

_I'm sorry it took me so long! Forgive me?_

_Also, I mentioned this on HTBAH, but I think this is nearing the end of my time writing about Spoby (and don't freak out too much; I won't discontinue this story and I feel as though I have at least one or two more multi-chapter stories left in me) and I have like a billion thought-bunnies on my computer that will never see the light of day. If there are any PLL writers (mainly Spoby or Haleb, but I have a few that are not relationship-centric) out there who need a story, I'd be very happy to give you one of my ideas. If you're even REMOTELY interested in it, please PM me about it and we can go from there. Please, if you have any sort of interest (even if you've never tried writing before but you want to) I'd be really happy to help you out with an idea. And if you're apprehensive about actually writing it, I'd be happy to help with that, too! Please, I don't want to see these ideas go to waste! _

_I will try to update by next week/next week, but I can't make any promises since the musical director is draconian and also sort of getting on my nerves. **-Kayson**_


	33. Chapter 32

_**Author's Note: **Happy PLL Day! I sincerely apologize. It has truly been forever. Please don't hate me for this chapter._

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

"I have a really good feeling about this dinner," Natalie announced as she placed a flower centerpiece in the middle of a long table. Natalie had insisted on planning a dinner for Hanna and Caleb before their wedding. It was a small get-together. It was only going to be the ten of them and Cassidy. Spencer thought about asking Melissa to babysit Alex, but she didn't really want to be apart from him for that long. Since they were having the dinner at Aria and Jason's house, Aria suggested that Alex stay in Cassidy's old crib so that Spencer could still check upon him every now and then.

"How did you manage to do all of this, Natalie?" Aria said as she stepped into her own house with Cassidy for the first time the entire day.

"Well, I had a really great assistant," Natalie said as she smiled at Emily. Emily began blushing. "Aside from the fact that she kept begging me to let her make empanadas…" Natalie trailed off as she went back into the kitchen.

"It's my mom's recipe, okay? They're great," Emily retorted.

"The last time you tried to make one, you practically force fed it to me. Em, it had hair on it," Spencer argued.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Well, you ate around the hair and admitted it tasted great."

Natalie walked back in with two plates of food. "I eventually convinced her that sushi might've been a better appetizer," she said as she placed the plates down on the table. "Now where are the bride- and groom-to-be?"

"Hanna said she's on her way. She had to pick up her wedding dress from the seamstress and she would be right over," Aria explained.

"Toby and Caleb are together. I don't know what they were doing, but they were hanging out," Spencer responded as she held Alex in her arms.

Natalie primped some of the flowers on the table. "Where's Jason?"

Aria shrugged. "Who knows? He's doing work or something," she said dismissively as she fixed Cassidy's hair.

"Are you calling my brother a liar?" Spencer questioned.

"No. I'm just saying he gets distracted rather easily and maybe he got lost on the way home," Aria responded. "I'm not saying he's a liar. Maybe he forgot," she said with a shrug.

"And you're okay with that?" Spencer asked.

"What can I do? Guys will be guys," Aria insisted.

"Does anyone want cocktails?" Natalie inquired.

Emily looked at her girlfriend with amusement. "Is there anything you can't do?" Natalie just flashed her perfect smile.

There was a knock at the door not long after Aria had gotten her Cosmopolitan and decided that it was delicious—apparently, Natalie had been a bartender, one of the several jobs she had to work her way through vet school. Spencer opened the door to see that it was Shane and Tiffany.

"Do you want something to drink?" Natalie asked as she poured vodka for Emily.

Tiffany shook her head and Aria eyed her suspiciously. "First you ditch girls' night and now you're refusing cocktails? Do you have something to tell us, Tiff?"

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "I'm not pregnant, Aria. You wouldn't know since you're still a size four and you only had one child, but after two kids, it's kind of hard to get your figure back and I'd rather not waste all my calories on a screwdriver," she responded.

"She's worried that she's gaining weight," Shane explained with a slight eye roll. "I already told you that I wouldn't care if you were a size two or a size twenty, Tiffany."

Spencer smiled. "That's so sweet," she commented. "You look fine, Tiffany."

Tiffany sighed before changing the subject. "Where is everyone else?"

"We don't know. We're assuming they're coming soon," Aria said as Cassidy walked over to her and put her head on her mom's lap.

Everyone heard the door open and a few moments later, Hanna and Jason walked in.

"It's one half of the couple of honor!" Natalie said as she slid Hanna's cosmopolitan champagne in front of her.

Hanna scoffed. "Please, I'm _the _guest of honor," she said before she downed all of her cocktail. "Pour me another one. I need it after the insanity I just endured."

Natalie began mixing another cocktail as Jason kissed Aria and Cassidy on the forehead. "I'll be right back," he said quietly to Aria before leaving the room without explanation. Natalie slid the finished cocktail towards Hanna and Hanna began to sip it.

"What happened?" Spencer asked.

Hanna sighed dramatically. "Well, when I got to the dress shop, they freaked me out by saying they weren't sure where the dress was. It was absolutely insane. Apparently, one of the new employees put the dress back where it wasn't supposed to be and it scared the shit out of me." Aria glared at Hanna as she put her hands over Cassidy's ears. Hanna continued. "Then, one of the girls nearly spilled her coffee all over my dress. I was about to kill her. Finally, I almost got hit by a car after I left the store!" Hanna exclaimed.

"What? What happened?" Tiffany asked.

"I was just walking innocently across the street with my dress when I tripped on a stupid pothole and stumbled. Some jerk on his cell phone didn't notice me and I barely made it out alive," Hanna answered dramatically. Spencer rolled her eyes at that but had to laugh at Hanna's way of being over-the-top.

* * *

"I just don't get why, exactly, you have to stay away from me for a whole week before the wedding. A whole week, Hanna?" Caleb asked.

Hanna sighed, like she'd explained it a billion times already. "It's so the first time I see you will be amazing. I already know seeing you at the actual wedding will be magical, but I want it to be even specialer."

"That's not a word," Spencer remarked before she took a sip of wine. Hanna rolled her eyes.

"It's the same reason why I've wanted to abstain for this long."

At that, Spencer nearly spit out her wine. No wonder the blonde was so high-strung lately. Cassidy piped up. "Abstain from what?"

"From…from…" Aria struggled to come up with a good response for that.

"From eating the last cookie, unlike certain little girls I know," Jason replied cleverly. Cassidy blushed and turned back to her dinner.

"And just so everyone knows, I have done an awesome job at not eating the last cookie," Hanna said as she took another bite of her food. "Natalie, this is so good," she remarked as she ate.

Natalie smiled. "Thank you."

"You have to give me the recipe," Hanna insisted. At that, Caleb couldn't help but laugh. Hanna glared at him. "What?"

"It's just…Hanna, I've never seen you in front of a stove except for when you heat pizza up in the oven," Caleb answered.

"Well, maybe I've toyed around with the idea of being a housewife," Hanna responded. "Hanna the Housewife. I like it," she insisted.

They all stayed silent with random bouts of meaningless chat. Dinner was over and still nobody had said anything. It was a comfortable sort of silence. The thing was that this group was so tight-knit that everyone knew everything about everyone else. There was never really a lot of news left to report, especially since they lived so close to each other.

A few minutes before breakfast was served, Natalie piped up. "I propose that we toast. Cassidy and Tiffany can toast with their seltzer." Cassidy frowned. She hated seltzer. "I just wanted to thank everyone for letting me become a part of this group and I just want to wish Hanna and Caleb the best with their marriage." Everyone else toasted to that as Caleb kissed Hanna on the forehead. As soon as the chatter started up again, Natalie and Emily got up. Spencer left the room after Natalie and Emily left to get dessert. She went to check on Alex. She didn't notice Toby following her.

"Have you been sleeping well?" she asked as she picked Alex up and rocked him back and forth. She turned around and noticed Toby standing in the doorway. She jumped, as she hadn't even heard him follow her. "God, Toby! You gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry," he insisted. "Can I hold him?"

She smiled at that. "He's your son, too; you're allowed to pick him up," she teased as she handed Alex over to him. They sat in the room with Alex for about five minutes before deciding they should probably go back downstairs.

When they got downstairs they noticed the commotion. Tiffany looked like she was in quite a lot of pain while Aria was on the phone with someone. Shane was trying to calm Tiffany down but to no avail. Cassidy just looked really scared. She was curled up in Jason's arms as she stared.

"What happened?" Spencer asked.

Caleb got up and walked over to a quieter spot to talk to Spencer and Toby. "We don't really know what's happening. A little while after you left, Tiffany started complaining about her side hurting, like she had appendicitis or something. Then, she said the pain was getting worse. She tried to get up to go to the bathroom, but the pain was so bad that she just started to collapse. Aria's on the phone with 911 right now," he explained.

Aria hung up the phone not much longer after we walked into the room. "There's an ambulance on the way," she announced as she put the phone down. "Tiffany, are you going to be alright until then?" Tiffany just groaned in response.

It was a long ten minutes before the ambulance showed up. It took a few moments for the paramedics to assess what was going on, but they quickly came up with an explanation.

"She is in labor," a female paramedic said to the group.

"Pregnant?!" Shane exclaimed. "How can she be pregnant?"

"I figure the usual way," the paramedic responded dryly. "Although it is extremely unlikely, it is possible for some women to not experience any symptoms of pregnancy."

* * *

The next morning, Spencer got a phone call from Shane about Tiffany having the baby. He wouldn't get into any more details but insisted that she get to the hospital as soon as possible. Hanna and Spencer quickly got there to meet the new baby.

Tiffany looked absolutely exhausted but very happy with the baby in her arms. Shane looked just as happy. Tiffany finally noted Spencer and Hanna's presence after a few moments.

"Hey," she said airily as she continued to rock the baby.

"Hey," Spencer and Hanna responded in unison.

"Would you like to meet Nicole Isabella?" Tiffany asked as she moved the baby so Hanna and Spencer could see her face.

"She's so cute," Spencer said quietly.

Hanna smiled. "She looks just like you, Tiffany. Sorry, Shane." Shane laughed.

"Do you want to hold her?" Tiffany asked, keen on the loving way Spencer looked at Nicole. Spencer nodded and Tiffany carefully put the baby in her arms. Spencer smiled as she held the newborn.

Tiffany quickly looked around. "Where's Alex?"

"At home with Toby," Spencer responded as she held the baby. "She's so cute," she repeated.

"I thought Toby was working?"

"He decided to work at home today," Spencer explained. "How do you feel, Tiffany?"

Tiffany sighed. "Like I might want to get my tubes tied or something." Hanna laughed. "I'm officially not having kids anymore. I'm almost positive I'm going to want to rip out my hair with three children."

"How could you not have known you were pregnant?" Hanna asked.

Tiffany shrugged as she thought about it. "I guess I just didn't notice that I was craving some things. I thought I was still getting my period, but apparently, I wasn't. And I didn't gain a lot of weight. Maybe like five or ten pounds?"

Hanna looked at Spencer curiously. "I can see that you're thinking, Spencer." They both knew what she was thinking about.

* * *

**_arubagirl0926: _**_What a lovely pseudo-family. Thank you. _

**_Guest:_** _No, that's not what I meant. I was trying to say that after this story, I will probably only write a couple more (maybe two or three) and that will likely be it and that is why I'd like to give away some ideas. I promise I'm not giving up. I'm just a little tired of writing stuff like this that I feel is dragging on and to be honest, I'd like to try writing original stuff. In fact, I've been trying to hammer out this very complicated book sort of reminiscent of dystopian novels like Brave New World and 1984, if you've read those. I'm sorry, I'm babbling. Thank you so, so much, and I promise I'm not leaving yet. You will still have to deal with me for several months more, at least!_

**_Guest: _**_No, I am! I promise I still have a few more stories left. I'm just saying that I'm sort of trying to get away from fanfiction. I'd never try to abandon a story I'm right in the middle of (I know I sort of did that with another story of mine, but I'm continuing it and I feel like I sort of gave it a little resolution). No, I think that my other work-in-progress is probably about as Haleb as I'll get; if I were to stop writing about Spoby, I'd probably stop writing fanfiction altogether. That's really lame but that's the truth, I guess. Thank you for reviewing! I promise I'm not leaving you guys yet!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you and I hope you liked it._

**_AL3110:_** _Bermuda was beautiful thankyouverymuch. Yeah, I sort of wish the end was sooner (still like 19 chapters left and that's too long for me). Thanks alliecat. I want to show you what I've been working on. Hopefully when summer comes we'll get to hang out again :) You're such a bae I just wanted you to know that._

**_Summer1223: _**_Thank you so much. I feel like the writing on this one is generally not up to par as some of my favorite works, but I'm trying! Cassidy is probably one of my favorite original characters I've ever created. I love her. I have a few so I guess I'll send you a PM. Thank you very much!_

_I'm so tired I might actually fall asleep. I'm so ready for this five-day weekend. Also TODAY IS PLL DAY so we can all be happy (or we could cry idk). I'll be liveblogging as usual on my PLL tumblr (thefaketeam) so you can watch me type dumb things :) It's a favorite pastime of mine. I hope you all liked it! Thanks for reading! **-Kayson**_


	34. Chapter 33

_**Author's Note: **Math = mental abuse to humans. That is all. _

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

The day of the wedding, Hanna was running around frantically as she tried to make sure everything was in place and perfect for her big day. Spencer did her best to try and placate her best friend, but Hanna was hyperventilating and looked like she was about to begin dry-heaving at any moment.

"Hanna, you need to calm down," Spencer said to Hanna as she paced around the room for the millionth time.

Hanna ignored her and walked over to the flowers near the rows of chairs where the ceremony was being held. "I asked for lily-of-the-valleys, not baby's breath! Spencer! The wedding is ruined!" Hanna complained.

"Han, it's not ruined," Spencer reassured her. "Do you want me to get rid of the lily-of-the-valleys?"

"God, no!" Hanna exclaimed. "Then the balance of purple to white is going to be completely screwed up. Just leave it. I'll manage somehow."

Hanna got up from her place and scrutinized the venue for the umpteenth time. Aria walked over to them holding a gold box. "Your bouquet came, Hanna," she said with a smile.

Hanna anxiously took the box and untied the silver ribbon on the gold and black box. She opened it carefully to reveal a bouquet of roses in three different shades of purple and white, some with jewels pressed into the center. There were a few little bunches of baby's breaths among the roses and the bouquet was tied together with a black silk ribbon. "Great. The bouquet has baby's breaths. Spencer!" she wailed.

"Hanna, it's going to be alright."

Hanna stared at it for a moment more before gasping. She dropped the bouquet, which Spencer quickly caught. "What's wrong?" Aria asked.

"There are thirteen roses. _Thirteen_, Aria! What if this is a sign that I'm not supposed to get married?" she repined as she sat down at a chair in the front row. "Everything is wrong, wrong, wrong!"

"Hanna, forget some stupid superstition. You love Caleb. He loves you. You guys are going to be happy and even if your wedding is an absolute disaster, one day, you're going to look back on it and laugh. You're only going to remember all the good parts of it," Aria assured Hanna as she rubbed her shoulder.

Hanna contemplated for a moment before taking a deep breath and standing up straight. "You're right. Aria's right. This wedding is going to happen and it's going to be amazing and even if it's not, who cares? It's not like it's the most important day of my life…" Hanna said. Her lip began to quiver as she finished the sentence and she buried her head in Spencer's shoulder as she began to wail.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Aria walked up slowly next to Spencer as they watched Hanna get the finishing touches on her hair done. "I just heard from the bakery and the person they sent to deliver the cake got lost. It might be here later than expected—"

Spencer shook her head and pointed at Hanna to remind Aria that Hanna was still very much a nervous wreck. The hair stylist had finished on Hanna's hair and Hanna looked like she was about to sob.

"No, no, Hanna! They just did your makeup like thirty minutes ago! No tears," Aria said as she held Hanna's perfectly made-up face.

Hanna nodded fervently in agreement. "God, where the hell are Natalie and Emily?!" she demanded. She walked over to a plate of chocolates and other sweets and quickly took a truffle off the tray.

"Hey, no stress eating!" Spencer scolded as Hanna made an attempt to get a petit four off the tray.

Hanna quickly flicked the crumbs off her finger. "You're right." She tried taking a deep breath, but deep breaths turned into shallow ones which had already proven several times to be completely ineffective. "What time is it?"

"Three-thirty. The wedding starts in an hour and a half," Aria said as she got her hair curled by the hair stylist.

"Where are Natalie and Emily?!" Hanna exclaimed with more agitation.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Spencer quickly walked over and was surprised to see her husband there with Cassidy. "Hey!" she greeted before pecking him quickly on the lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I spoke to Aria, who said Cassidy needed to get ready for the wedding and when Jason offered to take her here, she said she wanted me to bring her instead," he explained. Cassidy quickly left his side and ran over to her mom.

"Mommy, you look pretty," she concluded.

Aria smiled and tucked Cassidy's hair behind her ear. "Guess what? You're going to get to look even prettier than I am later."

Spencer turned to Toby. "How is Caleb? Is he freaking out like Hanna is?"

"I am not freaking out!" Hanna exclaimed as she stuffed her face with chocolates.

Spencer rolled her eyes slightly. Toby shook his head. "He's actually surprisingly quite calm. He's certainly not binge-eating chocolate."

Hanna glared at Toby. "It's not binge-eating."

"Hanna, you've had a whole box of chocolates already and you've made a pretty good dent in this one," Spencer retorted. "So how is Alex? Have you spoken to Melissa?"

"Alex is fine. He's playing with Pamela. I called Melissa an hour ago and she told me to remind you that he is in good hands," Toby said.

Spencer nodded.

Hanna threw her phone down on the bed in frustration. "Where the hell are Natalie and Emily?" she shouted to no one in particular.

"Playing Monopoly?" Toby suggested with a small grin, since nearly everyone in the room knew what that double-entendre meant.

"At my wedding? I'll kill them. That is, after we take the wedding pictures, of course. I can't find replacements that fast," Hanna said as she sat down on the bed. "And I know Tiffany sort of just had a baby and all of that, but that doesn't just give her a free pass to show up ten minutes before the wedding," Hanna said as she crossed her arms.

"Hanna, I think you need to drink some water and take a little walk around the hallway," Spencer suggested. "You need to clear your mind. But don't go outside or you might sweat your makeup off."

Hanna rolled her eyes before following Spencer's advice.

* * *

Hanna paced back and forth nervously outside of the reception hall.

"Is it normal to be this nervous?" she asked as Aria tried keeping her skirt from getting dirty from her pacing.

"Hanna, breathe."

"I'm done with breathing, Spencer!" Hanna snapped. She stopped walking. "It's impossible to even breathe in this dress. Do you realize how much I have to suffer for fashion?"

"You need to calm down," Emily insisted.

"Sorry, I didn't have my boyfriend to go down on me and make me cool and collected like you, Emily!" Hanna exclaimed. Emily (and also Natalie) began to turn red with embarrassment.

"Hanna!" Aria exclaimed as she watched Cassidy play on the grass, luckily not at all fazed by what Hanna just said.

"Hanna, don't take it out on Emily and Natalie and Aria. If you're going to take your frustration out on anyone, take it out on me," Spencer said as she grabbed Hanna's shoulders.

"No, I've been taking it out too much on you," Hanna argued. She sighed as she looked at all of the girls. "I've been taking it out on all of you, actually. I'm sorry. I just get really nervous…"

"It's normal, Hanna," Aria insisted. She put down the train of Hanna's dress and took her bouquet back from Spencer. "Come on. Aren't you ready to become Mrs. Rivers?"

Hanna smiled slightly as Spencer handed Hanna her bouquet.

"Oh, no, Cassidy! What are you doing with your petals?" Aria demanded as she ran over to her daughter as quickly as she could in her heels.

* * *

"How is he?" Toby asked as Spencer handed him his phone—as she killed her own calling Emily and Natalie to placate Hanna's nerves.

"Melissa said that he was sleeping when I called her. She said he's been really good," she said as she sat down next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder as she watched Hanna dance with Caleb. "I'm glad the ceremony is finally over. I was worried Hanna was going to have a heart attack."

"Was she was bad as you were?"

Spencer quickly snapped up. "I was not _that _bad!" she protested.

"Hanna _and _Aria _and _Emily tell me otherwise," Toby said with a small smile.

"I was a little bit anal-retentive and particular about everything but I didn't start yelling at everyone the entire wedding day!"

"I'm pretty sure almost every woman does that."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Not true."

"Whatever you say…" he trailed off.

She glared at him for a few moments. Then, a slow song came on. "Okay, jerk, will you dance with me?"

"Depends. Are you going to stop on my foot as retribution for the conversation we just had?" he inquired.

She fidgeted. "…No."

He extended his hand and she quickly took it. They began dancing with the other couples on the floor. "But really, you and Hanna did a great job with this," he said. "You'd be a really good wedding planner."

"Are you kidding? I'd be an amazing one," she insisted. They both laughed. "But I couldn't deal with brides like Hanna all day; I don't have the patience for that." They stayed silent. "I've really been thinking about what Hanna's been saying about a bakery. I think I want to do it. I like being a stay-at-home wife, but it's not what I want to do. I need to do something more than that. I can feel myself going stir-crazy from it."

He nodded. "I'm not surprised." He was quiet for a few moments. "I'll support you doing whatever you want to do, Spence."

She smiled. "I know. I just wanted to tell you."

* * *

_This is the fastest I've updated in forever!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Oops! Today I posted on hump day! I'm glad you liked it. I hope you liked this one. _

**_Summer1223: _**_I like it so far (I mean really it's the best combo ever). And sorry, could you PM me about the stories you want to adopt? I would right after I sent this message but I won't have the time after I update this story and my other one. And then I need to compose my thoughts. Please just send me a PM with the kinds of stories you'd be interested in and what you're not comfortable with writing about. I actually sort of like Jonny (I do think he has this holier-than-thou kind of thing going on that I can't really put my finger on). I didn't like how he tricked Spencer into vandalizing Hollis and I thought the ladder thing was so cheesy but it didn't make me mad. I thought he was good for a change but everyone obviously knows what my otp is. Thanks for reviewing and asking!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Well, I guess you will see in Part IV..._

**_Guest (Amy): _**_Thank you! That is really sweet. I will, trust me! I think I have four more PLL stories to write (three of which are Spoby stories) so don't worry! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!_

_So on a scale of one to ten, how mad are you guys at PLL's episode last night? Especially with he-who-shall-not-be-named kissing Spencer. It was just really weird. I started laughing uncontrollably because I felt so nervous. _

_Today was a really awful day so I'd really appreciate a review :) _

_Also, there will be another time jump between this chapter and the next one. It's only like three months, but I thought I'd let you guys know. **-Kayson**_


	35. Chapter 34

_**Author's Note: **__You know how I told you guys angst would be starting soon? Yeah. Remember that. _

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

"Spencer, you've trusted me with your baby before. Don't you trust me now?" Hanna asked as she held Alex.

"If I can be totally honest, no," Spencer said as she put on lipstick in the hall mirror. "When you drop cats, they almost always land on their feet. When you drop a baby, they start to scream."

Hanna looked offended. "I am not going to drop your child! Don't you remember how I used to watch Cassidy with you?"

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Hanna. "I was the one who took care of her! You were just there to look around Aria's closet and read her gossip magazines."

"I can do it, Spencer. I'm a responsible thirty-one year-old woman. I am capable of holding my nephew. You know you probably would've made me his godmother if you didn't have a sister," Hanna said as she adjusted Alex in her arms.

"Actually, if we're being honest, I probably would have picked Aria since she's a) married to my brother and b) a mother herself."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever. Go on your stupid date now."

Spencer took a deep breath. She kissed Alex on the cheek and quickly wiped away the bit of lipstick. "Thank you so much, Hanna. I'll call you in the morning!"

* * *

Spencer stayed silent at the table. "This is really weird," she said out loud. Toby agreed in silence. "This is the first time we're ever staying away from Alex overnight." He nodded. The two of them fell silent.

"Maybe we should just go home," Toby suggested.

Spencer shook her head after thinking it over for a moment. "Think about it. When is the last time we actually got time to ourselves?" She put her hand on his. "I'd like to be a little selfish for just tonight."

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We haven't been away from him for more than a few hours. We can manage one night, right?"

Spencer nodded. "And Hanna can manage."

They both became very quiet again. Spencer finally spoke up as she touched her glass of wine. "Did I tell you about the place that Hanna and I found for the bakery? There's this cute little store in Rosewood Square that's close to the park that Hanna and I were looking at. It's not even expensive."

"That's good. Are the two of you going to get it?"

"I think so. We're going to talk about it some more soon. We finished coming up with a menu. Once we get the place, we need some help and we need to set up the place. I can't believe it's really happening," she said with a small smile.

Toby smiled. "You must be excited to finally be getting out of the house."

"Oh, I am," she responded. "And the more I think about it, the more exciting it is." After a moment of silence, Spencer sighed. "But I don't really want to talk about that tonight. It's our anniversary," she said as she laced her fingers in his. "Can you please tell me where we're going later?" she asked with a pout.

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise," he reminded her with a smile.

"But I'm impatient! I hate surprises," she reminded him.

"And that's why it's a surprise." She glared at him.

* * *

"Is this blindfold supposed to stay on the entire night? When I said I wasn't into that weird erotica novel that all the Rosewood housewives are reading, I was serious," Spencer said as she stood just inside a hotel room. She was wearing a red tie of Toby's as a blindfold.

"Oh, darn," Toby responded as he stood behind Spencer. "I really wanted to try some of that stuff out," he teased as he began to untie the knots in the tie.

"I've heard enough fantasies from Hanna to last a lifetime," Spencer said as he took off the tie. She smiled when she saw the room. She wasn't really surprised by any of his romantic gestures anymore. She could practically count on him to be poetically romantic on Valentine's Day, birthdays, and anniversaries.

She looked at the rose petals on the ground that trailed to the bed. There were a bunch of rose petals randomly spread on the bed with three yellow tulips sitting on top. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?" Spencer asked as she felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks.

"I feel like I haven't been doing it enough lately," he confessed.

She rolled her eyes as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Toby, you're too modest, really."

He didn't argue but didn't agree either. He just stood there for a few moments while thinking. "Do you want to call Hanna?"

Spencer was tempted to. In all honesty, she hadn't thought a whole lot about Alex that night and she wasn't sure whether to be happy about that or ashamed. As she took off her earrings and placed them on the nightstand beside the bed, she said, "No. Hanna will call us if anything's wrong." Maybe things would've been different if they could _talk _to Alex and say goodnight to him, but he was still too little.

He sighed. "So what would you like to do first?" he inquired as he walked over to her and took her hands.

She smiled. "I have a few ideas," she responded as she tilted her head to kiss him.

* * *

"Hey," Spencer said abruptly as they played with each other's hands that night as they lay in bed. "I've been thinking and…what would you think about having another baby?"

She didn't get any response for a couple of moments; he just continued to play absentmindedly with her hands. Finally, he asked, "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"At least since Nicole was born. Maybe ever since we had Alex," she responded.

"That long?" he inquired.

She blushed a little. "I just don't really want him to be a lonely child. I know a few people who are who've said that they got lonely when they were little."

He nodded in response. "I'll admit that while being an only child has its perks, things got a lot more interesting when Jenna was around," he replied. "With that being said, I think we should have another baby."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

* * *

The next day, Spencer quickly ran up the front stairs and opened the front door. Toby had barely walked up the front step by the time Spencer was in the house.

Although Spencer was perfectly fine at night and even early in the morning, she seemed to be having separation anxiety by noon. She was practically begging him to go home. Although Toby somewhat selfishly wanted to spend an hour or two more alone with his wife, he had to admit he missed Alex as well.

Spencer walked into the house to find Hanna holding a sleeping Alex. She smiled. "Wow, Han. I never really saw you as the motherly-nurturing type."

Hanna just continued to rock the baby. "And you had no faith in me," she reminded Spencer.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry."

Hanna smiled. "Oh, your dog makes a good watch dog," she commented finally. "I was sleeping in Alex's room last night—"

"You could have just taken our bed, Hanna," Toby insisted.

"And risk sleeping where you and Spencer have done the deed countless times? No thanks. I'd rather sleep on the floor. The rug is very soft, by the way," she said. "Anyway, I woke up at three in the morning because Missy was barking. She must've heard a squirrel or a bird or a raccoon or something but she was barking at the front door."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. She never recalled that happening before. "Hmm…"

"Isn't this the same dog that followed you around while you were pregnant?"

Spencer smiled before nodding. Missy quickly came bounding down the stairs—almost tripping down the bottom three stairs since she was so excited—and ran over. She jumped up on Toby, who was the closest to her.

"Can I hold him?"

Hanna pouted slightly before giving the baby carefully to Spencer. Spencer lit up when she had Alex back in her arms.

"So since I watched your child for you, could you please, please, _please_ tell me about the anniversary?" Hanna asked as she nudged Spencer in the arm.

Spencer bit her lip as she tried to contain her blush. "Not now, Han," she said quietly.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Fine, prude." Hanna walked over to the couch to grab her bag. "I expect to hear all about it tomorrow when we talk about the bakery," she insisted. Spencer was about to offer a rebuttal, but Hanna was waltzing towards the door before she got the chance. "Goodbye!" she chirped before walking out of the door.

* * *

Spencer set up the porch for lunch with Hanna. For some reason, she started feeling tired after setting up the table and decided to just sit and enjoy the soft early-autumn breeze.

About fifteen minutes later, Hanna let herself onto the porch. "I got your favorite: sesame chicken," Hanna announced as she placed a bag with Chinese food on the table. Spencer smiled. "And then I got everything I wanted," she said as she took out several takeout boxes. Spencer opened the one she knew was her sesame chicken and as soon as she did, she began feeling a bit odd.

"Do you smell something?" Spencer asked abruptly.

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. "No?"

Spencer hesitated for a moment before brushing it off.

"So I thought maybe we could start talking about the location of this bakery. I've seen a couple of places I liked. There was that one place on the end of 7th Street. It's a bigger space with a lot of room for outdoor tables and chairs, but there's not a lot of traffic or places around. There was another spot in the shopping center near Walmart, but do we really want to be wedged in between a hardware store and a drugstore?" Hanna pulled out her phone and began looking through it. "And then, there's this space in Rosewood Square. It's smaller than both of the other spaces, but look at the inside," she said as she showed Spencer a picture. "It's really cute and there's a lot that can be done to improve it. Aside from that, it's in Rosewood Square and people pass by there all the time. That one is honestly my favorite one right now. What do you think?"

Spencer didn't really have an opinion. In fact, Spencer suddenly became overwhelmed with a nauseating smell and quickly ran away.

"Okay, I know that it's not as big, but it's not that unappealing!" she exclaimed as Spencer ran into the nearest bathroom. "What was that?" she asked when Spencer came back outside about five minutes later.

Spencer shrugged. She was left with this awful feeling of nausea and disgust. She tried to go back to enjoying the food. She found herself becoming desensitized to the smell and also—unfortunately—the taste.

Hanna gasped loudly after a few moments. "Spencer!" she shouted.

"Hanna!" Spencer mocked equally as loudly.

"Are you…?" Hanna trailed off with an inquisitive look in her eyes. Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you…?" Hanna repeated. She scoffed when Spencer still didn't understand. "Are you _with child_?"

"What? No!" Spencer said quickly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she began to wonder. Really, she couldn't be sure. She hadn't been nauseous like this but…now that Hanna mentioned it…she remembered craving chocolate and a lot of fruit—particularly berries.

Hanna squinted, reluctant to believe her. "I don't know if I believe that."

Spencer wasn't sure either.

* * *

"Oh, it's not fair! Just let me in already, damn it!" Hanna exclaimed as she paced back and forth in front of the bathroom Spencer was currently locked away in.

Spencer rolled her eyes as she paced around the bathroom, unsure of what to do with herself. The timer went off and Spencer dove for the test.

"Let me in, Hastings!" Hanna said as she banged on the door.

"Cavanaugh!" she responded.

"I'm pissed at you for not letting me in; you're a Hastings again!" Hanna argued.

Spencer ignored Hanna as she looked down at the test. It was positive. She quickly opened the door for Hanna.

"Well, what did it say?"

Spencer just showed Hanna the test. Hanna smiled in response. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Spencer nodded with a slight smile. "I just never expected it would happen this quickly."

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I don't think Spencer really cheated on Toby (in my opinion). Spencer didn't really go in with the intention of cheating on Jonny and she didn't initiate the kiss, so I don't really consider it to be cheating. But that's just me. I don't think they'll break up. I've heard talk about Spencer and Toby being back on good terms before the end of the season. Thanks for reviewing!_

**_Amy:_** _I started nervous-laughing. I didn't really like Jonny, but I didn't really dislike him, either. It was kind of just stupid writing to me tbh. Thanks for reviewing!_

**_Summer1223:_** _Thank you. I try to use Hanna as a comic relief from time to time. She didn't really cheat in my opinion. I don't know. I just didn't consider it to be cheating. I thought the episode was actually better than most of the ones in a long time. We'll see. The finale better be freaking amazing because dollhouses are everything to me (for reasons I can't explain). _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thank you for reviewing!_

_I'm sorry it took me so long to write this. In short, I've been stressed. But thankfully, my stress has sort of paid off. I got a math test back yesterday and I got 100 on it which is frickin' amazing since I've gotten C's on the last two tests I've had. Today, I got back a five-chapter history test. My history teacher is notorious for giving mind-numbingly difficult tests. I was ecstatic when I got 103. It brought my grade all the way up from a B+ to an A. But enough of that. _

_I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I still have stories I want to give to other people so...pm me if you're interested! Thanks! **-Kayson**_


	36. Chapter 35

_**Author's Note:** All I can say is...I warned you all. (TW)_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

"It's so cute!" Spencer said as she looked at the cake Hanna made for Alex's birthday.

"And I made cookies," Hanna added as she put a plate of sugar and chocolate chip cookies on the counter.

"Hanna, we're only like a dozen people," Spencer reminded her.

"So? Birthdays are important. And the worst that could happen is that you have leftover cookies," Hanna insisted. She leaned in closer to Spencer. "Which, you know, isn't really a bad thing, considering you're now eating for two…"

Spencer shushed Hanna. "I still haven't told Toby!" she exclaimed quietly.

"Spence! When are you going to tell him?"

"Today. In fact, I went to the doctors to see how far along. Two months, apparently," she said. "I got a sonogram, too."

Hanna smiled. "Well, don't wait too long! What are you waiting for?"

Spencer bit her lip as she hesitated. "Yeah, you're right. Should I tell him now? I don't want to be rude and—"

"Oh, shut up and go tell him," Hanna interrupted.

* * *

Spencer walked into the spare room Toby used as a home office of sorts. She walked timidly. For some weird reason, she felt more girlish than ever. "Toby, there's something really important I need to tell you," she said finally as she clutched something close to her chest.

Toby looked up at her. It seemed as though he had barely noticed her slip into the room. "What is it, Spence?"

She bit her lip. "I know we haven't talked about it much yet, but…" She put the sonogram on his desk carefully. "I went to the doctor's and it's been a little more than two months."

Toby didn't know what to say. He picked up the sonogram and stared at it for a few moments. Spencer realized he was silent for entirely too long. "Please say something."

"I…Spencer…this is…" he stuttered. "I'm just…"

"Are you upset?" Spencer asked nervously.

"No! No, I'm really happy!" he insisted. "It's just…we were just talking about it not too long ago…"

"I know."

He scrutinized the sonogram again. Light as a feather, he murmured, "This is amazing." Spencer nodded as he wrapped his arms around her. "This is amazing," she heard him mumble into the side of the neck. "I guess we're going to have to start turning this into another room soon…"

Spencer smiled as she looked around the room and thought of what it would probably look like. She could practically see the powder-pink walls…

* * *

Spencer stared at Alex as she finished dressing him. For some reason, it felt _different _holding him now that she knew he was going to be a big brother.

"Alex…what do you think about having a baby sister?"

Alex, of course, could not answer. He just seemed to be confused by the question.

"You're going to be an older brother." The words continued to sink in. "You're going to be an older brother," she repeated.

Alex still didn't understand. Spencer just pulled him closer to her. He wrapped his little arms around her neck and began sticking his fingers in her hair. "But for now, you're my baby. You're my only son." She smiled and then pulled him away, lifting him in the air. He started to laugh. "And I'm really grateful for that right now. I know you can't understand it, but I love you." She smiled as she pulled him back into her arms and started kissing him all over. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

* * *

A few weeks later, Hanna led Spencer into the store they'd be leasing for the bakery. "What do you think, Cavanaugh? Not too bad?" she asked.

"I really like it, Hanna. I think you picked a good spot." Spencer walked over to the windows and looked out at the street. "Especially considering how much traffic this place gets."

Hanna smiled. "Okay, so I've figured that for a little while, we're going to have to do a lot of the baking at probably my house since the kitchen is a limited space. But another reason why I loved this place is because once it takes off, we can probably buy out the guy next to us. He's on his last legs," Hanna explained.

Spencer nodded. "That is, if we take off."

"We will!" Hanna insisted. "Come on. Everyone loves what we bake. And you're good at everything. Are you telling me you can't PR?"

Spencer crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes slightly. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you can do it!" Hanna exclaimed. "Listen, once people try my cookies and cupcakes and cake, they'll practically be selling themselves. All we need to do is get people in here."

Spencer nodded. "Yeah." After a few moments, she continued looking around the room. "As much as I love the location, this place is in need of some TLC," Spencer said as she touched the walls. The paint seemed to be chipping slightly in some spots.

"I already talked to your husband and also mine about it. Caleb is pretty awful at building stuff, but he offered to help out. And obviously, Toby told me that he'd be happy to build some tables and chairs. He's so cute…"

Spencer just continued to think of what she could do to help Hanna with the place. She had to admit that she wasn't quite sure Hanna could do it. Hanna never really struck her as being the entrepreneur/business owner-type that she was now looking to be. Hanna really seemed to have it all figured out. Spencer had to admit that she was rather proud of Hanna.

"This place is going to be great," Spencer said to herself.

* * *

Spencer felt nauseous about a week later. She had stayed in bed almost all day. Toby stayed home to help her, but Spencer insisted that he stay far away from her, as she didn't want to give him her infection—and then have him give the infection to Alex. Spencer was hoping that it was simply morning sickness, but her fever suggested otherwise. She was, of course, a bit anxious, as she was pregnant and she wasn't sure how being sick would affect the fetus.

She didn't grow very concerned until she began to have abdominal cramps, sort of like she was getting her period. At this point, her fever was beginning to dissipate and Toby began rubbing her back. Eventually, this soothed her to sleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night with a very odd feeling.

To her horror, when she went to the bathroom, there was ghastly red blood. There was a lot of it, she noted as she stared at her red-stained hands. She screamed.

"Spencer? Spencer?" Toby asked just a minute later. He had clearly just gotten up, but his expression was disturbed o the point of being wide awake.

"Toby, call the doctor," she said as she looked down at her bloody hands.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," he insisted.

She normally would have argued and claimed that she was absolutely fine and it was just a weird occurrence, but she felt that this was more than just a random thing. She started to get worried. She'd never been this bloody. Immediately, she thought it might be her period, but had to remind herself that she was pregnant. Also, her period was never this heavy…

She took a deep breath as she experienced a sharp pain in her back. "Toby!" she wailed.

"Spencer, let me in," he said softly as he tapped on the door.

"Isn't it open?"

"No."

Spencer winced. She couldn't even move. She felt incapacitated by pain. As soon as it eased a little, she made her way to the door and opened it.

"I can't move," she said as she leaned against the sink of the bathroom. She could practically feel her knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge of the counter.

He brushed her hair out of her face. "I called Emily since she's the closest and she said she'd be right over to watch Alex." They both were silent and heard the door open downstairs. "She's here. Come on, Spencer." She winced at the very thought of moving. He carefully picked her up and led her downstairs. They said a terse hello and goodbye to Emily before they went to the hospital.

* * *

The nurses in the hospital gave Spencer a painkiller for the time being as they tried to figure out what was wrong with her. Spencer asked weakly if they were certain it wouldn't hurt the baby, as she was a few months pregnant. The nurses insisted it wouldn't. They ran a few tests on Spencer after the painkillers set in and she was calmer. They told Toby he could stay with Spencer and he gladly took the invitation.

"Are you feeling any better?" Toby asked Spencer as he held her hand.

She squeezed his hand. "I think I will. I'm just worried that something is wrong…"

"I don't think anything is wrong," he responded.

She bit her lip. She hoped that was true but she could never be certain.

"Tiffany called and so did Emily, Hanna, and Jason. They all want to know that you're okay."

"And what did you say?" she asked.

"I told them that the doctors were running tests and that you were feeling better."

Spencer nodded. She still had no idea what was causing her intense pain.

A few minutes later, a young nurse with reddish-brown hair and a middle-aged doctor walked into the room.

"Mrs. Cavanaugh, you said you were three months pregnant?" the nurse asked kindly as the doctor brought over an ultrasound machine.

Spencer nodded. She already felt like she wouldn't like where this was going.

"And you went to the doctor to confirm this pregnancy, right?" she inquired.

"I even got an ultrasound," Spencer said.

The nurse nodded. There was a hint of sadness evident in her eyes. "Well…Dr. Walters is just going to take an ultrasound right now." She looked like she was about to add something else, but quickly clamped her mouth shut afterwards.

Spencer reluctantly pulled up the shirt she was wearing to reveal her rather-flat stomach with just a tiny bump protruding. She nearly began to laugh when she felt the very cold gel over her stomach. The reality of the situation caught up with her and she became serious again.

The doctor had the screen facing away from Spencer and Toby. He put the ultrasound on her stomach and tried to find a heartbeat. It just sounded like a bunch of static to Spencer.

"I was afraid this was what it was," she heard the doctor mutter under his breath to the nurse. He turned off the machine. "Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh, I'm so sorry."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows, like she couldn't understand what he was saying. "W-what?"

"There is no heartbeat."

"Are you sure?" Toby asked. There was desperation in his voice.

"I'm positive," the doctor said definitively. "It was a miscarriage."

She stared at her hands numbly. It was like she couldn't even feel anymore.

"We'll give you two time alone," the doctor said as he got up to leave the room.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said quietly before following the doctor out.

The both of them sat in silence for a long time. It was several minutes. Maybe even hours. Spencer didn't have a sense of time. They didn't speak at all. Toby's phone rang at least four times since they had gotten the news; he hadn't picked up once. In fact, he didn't even touch the phone. Spencer wasn't even sure he'd moved a muscle since the doctor told them.

She felt the tears dampening her shirt. She made no effort to wipe away the tears. She could feel the salt and sadness sticking to her skin like thin blue paint. It ran from her eyes down her chin and her neck into even her shirt. She just felt covered by and drowning in this ineffable anguish.

She was mad at herself, she realized. She was the only one at fault for this miscarriage. She was the one to lose the baby. What had she done wrong?

Maybe she drank more coffee than she was supposed to. Maybe she had put too much pressure on her stomach. Maybe she let stress get the best of her. She'd done something to lose this baby. She wasn't sure if she'd ever stop feeling guilty for it.

And then there was Toby.

She couldn't bring herself to look over at him and really look at him—_really _look at him—even just once. She'd not only done this to the baby but she did it to him too. Now _he _had to live with the loss of a child. How could she even bring him into this? She'd already felt so much pain from losing one child. She never imagined she'd cause someone else to feel this way.

Spencer tried telling herself that she wasn't at fault; these sort of things happened. And yet, she couldn't shake this feeling of guilt, like she enabled it to happen.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm sorry. I hope you don't totally hate me? _

**_Summer1223: _**_I might make Hanna pregnant later on, but I'm still thinking about it...I hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_...I'm sorry. _

**_Kathryn2014:_**_ Thank you! And I hope you're not too terribly mad at me. _

**_Amy: _**_I hope you're not too crushed. _

_I feel really bad. I gave you guys false hope. I know this is a very sensitive subject which is exactly why I wanted to write for it. I really hope I did this justice and you guys are really going to see more angst and more of Spencer and Toby coping with this loss. I'm sorry. The story was just too happy and fluffy for me. _

_I know I haven't been around in FOREVER but I've been so busy with school. Thankfully, I'm on Spring Break for the next two weeks and I hope to update at least one or two more times before the break is over (and that goes for both of my stories). I'm sorry! **-Kayson**_


	37. Chapter 36

_**Author's Note: **I'm back! I would've updated yesterday but I stayed up until like one or two watching PLL with my cousin. I think she's into it. We're up to episode 5. She despises Ezria and Wren (she said his face is very punchable) but she's on the #tobydefensesquad (she's also an Emayan). _

_You'll probably note the absence of an important character in this chapter. Don't know if they'll be back in chapter thirty-seven. _

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

Alex was asleep in his room. Spencer had no clue where Toby was, and she didn't know where the cats were, either. The bunch of hollies sitting on the table had wilted, but neither Toby nor Spencer had bothered to throw them out.

Spencer was curled on the couch. Her eyes stung and felt permanently rimmed red from all the crying she had been doing recently. She was currently not crying; she had reached that point where she felt as though she'd cried all her tears. Now she felt empty.

Sometime after Spencer had settled in this empty feeling, Missy came over to her. "What do you want?" she asked. Missy stared at her for a few moments before she jumped on the couch and curled in Spencer's arm, licking her hand a little. Normally, Spencer would have made Missy get off the couch since she was a bit fanatic about dog or cat hair. But this time, it felt different. She drew Missy closer to her. The dog furrowed herself in Spencer's chest and Spencer felt herself crying again.

There was a knock at the door, but Spencer didn't get up to open the door; she didn't even say a word.

"Spence, it's us!" Hanna shouted from outside. "It's me and Emily!"

Spencer heard a frustrated sigh and then keys jingling. A few minutes later, Emily and Hanna walked through the door. "Spencer, you—"

Hanna stopped abruptly when she saw her friend. She'd heard of the miscarriage and she knew that Spencer would be upset, but she didn't realize she'd still be _this _upset; it had been more than three weeks since it happened.

Emily, always the compassionate one, walked over to Spencer and tried comforting her. Missy snuggled in between the both of them. Hanna stared for a while, not knowing how to react. After a few moments, she grabbed the vase of wilted hollies and threw them out.

"Where's Alex?" Hanna asked.

"Upstairs," Spencer answered laconically.

"And Toby?" Emily inquired.

Spencer paused before shrugging. "Who knows?"

Both Hanna and Emily knew that wasn't a good thing. Finally, Emily piped up. "Spencer, do you need us to do anything for you?"

For some reason, Spencer frowned and began to cry again as she buried her face into the palms of her hands. "I'm so helpless," she said finally through tears. Hanna sat down next to her and the two—along with Missy—began to console Spencer. "When is it going to stop hurting?" she asked like a child.

"I don't know, Spence," Emily told her. "Maybe it'll never stop hurting."

Hanna wanted to smack her. Spencer picked up on this. "Maybe Emily is right," she insisted. "But when is it going to start hurting like a razor on my heart?"

* * *

Natalie put away her pet grooming things and let Missy off of the counter. Natalie noticed that Missy's nails hadn't gotten clipped in quite some time and decided to clip them herself. Afterwards, she noticed that Missy could use a good tooth-brushing and decided to brush her teeth. Missy seemed to make a face at the taste of the toothpaste at first, but when she realized that Natalie would give her a scrap of the steak she'd cooked, she obliged.

"Well, she won't eat a thing," Emily announced as she brought down Spencer's untouched plate. "I guess these are leftovers for Toby?" she suggested.

"If he ever gets back," Natalie said as she put the dog back on the floor. "I feel like I haven't seen him in weeks."

"Apparently, neither has Spencer. Apparently, she barely speaks more than five-word sentences to him anymore," Emily said in frustration. "What are we supposed to do? They have a son. They love each other. This can't happen."

Natalie forced a small smile. "I never knew you were such a romantic, Emily."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying…I'm not about to let them fall apart. They're two of my best friends."

"That's understandable," Natalie said as she looked for a plastic container to put the food in, just in case Toby came home or Spencer began to feel hungry later.

"I thought you were the compassionate one. You're a doctor!" Emily said.

"I know, but…honestly, Emily, what do you want me to say? I can't say anything. It's not fair for me to prescribe advice when I have no clue what either of them feel like right now," Natalie said. "The only way I can think of helping them—with outside help, I mean, because I really think at this point, things can't just magically fix themselves; they need to talk about this to another person—is to sit them both down and speak to them about what's bothering them."

"Like an _intervention_?" The way Emily said it made it seem as though Natalie just suggested they should pull out one's teeth, one by one, as the other stood by and watched.

"Can you think of another way?"

"What if we got them to sit down with each other and talk about it? It's less weird that way. It's less like we're saying 'There's something wrong with the both of you and you need to fix it now for our convenience,'" Emily replied.

"But Em, if they had been able to fix this themselves, they would have done it themselves already."

"No, they're both avoiding each other and it's wrong."

Natalie just sighed as she finished washing the dishes. A part of her wanted to tell Emily that she was right just to end this conversation, but she knew that Emily's plan would never work.

"I'm going to go check on Alex one more time," Emily announced after a long silence. She turned and left the room.

Natalie turned to Missy, who was sitting at her feet. After drying her hands, she picked the puppy up. "Dogs are so much easier. You cuddle more and talk less," Natalie said as she pulled the dog to her chest.

* * *

Spencer stared at the door of her bedroom. At the moment, she was sitting in the darkness. She wanted to get up and go sit in Alex's room and cry, but that would probably freak Alex out. She just wanted to be close to him. At the same time, being close to him was just about the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to be reminded of the brother or sister he almost had and then she lost.

She thought losing Brandon was the worst thing she'd ever experience and it happened all over again. She wondered for a long time if it would have been easier on her if Brandon had been stillborn or if she miscarried when she was pregnant. For the longest time, she believed it would have been easier; she never would have known him and, in turn, never would have gotten the chance to really love him. She knew now that she was wrong. For a long time she thought Tennyson was smoking some sort of weed when he said "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." She realized now that he was just very wise. With this baby—she didn't even know if it was a girl or a boy, and so in her mind, she just thought of it as "the baby"—she was just left to wonder. She dwelled on all the hypotheticals. She contemplated what he or she would have been like and what he or she would have found interesting. She thought about how his or her relationship would be with Alex. She wondered if they'd be constantly squabbling or if they'd always be there for each other. She was just left to wonder about so many things.

And Toby…

Her mind sometimes went back to him. While she initially felt the worst for him, she gradually began to feel disdain and maybe even _anger _at the fact that he was absent for almost all of the time she had been back from the hospital after miscarrying. She understood that he was in a lot of pain, too, but he couldn't just run off like that. He couldn't just hang her out to dry. She almost felt like he was punishing her by not being there.

And aside from all the anger, she was just _worried _about him. Although she'd barely spoken to him since the miscarriage happened, she could just feel that he was in pain. She didn't know where he went. She didn't know if he went to do stupid things. She didn't know if he went out to drink the entire day (though she'd never known him to even have a particular taste for alcohol, these kinds of events catalyzed addiction). She didn't know if he spent the whole day wasting away in self-loathing like she was doing. Maybe he did all three.

* * *

Hanna sat and played with her hands as she lay in bed with Caleb that night. She spent most of the rest of the day thinking about Spencer and how sad she was.

"Spencer just looked like a complete mess when I saw her today," Hanna said. "And she's one of those people—" She stopped herself.

"What kinds of people?"

"She's the kind of person who's always put together. It's like…if you see that sort of person look like a mess, you know everything is going to hell," she responded. She rested her head on Caleb's shoulder and they stayed there for a few moments. "Have you spoken to Toby?"

Caleb shook his head. "Not directly. I've spoken to Jason. He's said that Toby's spent the last three weeks holed up in his office. Jason doesn't even know if he's left. He assumes that he's gone home briefly, probably to change clothes and shower and stuff like that but otherwise…" Caleb trailed off. "He doesn't even speak to anyone. Jason says he communicates solely in notes and text messages now."

Hearing that broke Hanna's heart. She knew that miscarriage was hard, but she was afraid this would ruin both Spencer and Toby. They were in this deep rut and Hanna had no clue how to pull them out of it.

"I don't know how to help them," Caleb said, voicing exactly what Hanna had been thinking. "I don't think either of them is emotionally available at the moment," he added.

Hanna nodded in agreement. "I want Spencer to know I'm there for her. She just keeps pushing people away. I get why, but it's so hard to see her in this sort of pain…and it's so hard to help…" she explained. "Emily called me tonight after dinner and she said that Natalie came over and they tried to get Spencer to eat. Caleb, she won't even eat. She needs to eat something," Hanna said.

Caleb nodded silently while brushing some of Hanna's hair out of her face. "And I'm worried about Alex," Hanna confessed quietly. "I'm not saying that Spencer and Toby are bad parents, but they're so wrapped up in their own grief that they're not even thinking about him right now. I think it hurts them to look at him, knowing they could have had another baby and he could've had a little brother or sister…"

Caleb agreed. He rubbed small circles on her arm as they lay in silence. After a few minutes, Caleb reached over and turned out the light. Hanna took a deep breath as she rested her head on his chest.

* * *

_**Guest: **Thank you, thank you very much! I promise there will be an explanation as to why this keeps happening to Spencer. But thank you for reading and thank you for the kind review :) _

**_Kathryn2014:_**_ They'll get through it...eventually. Thank you for reading and reviewing!_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ Thank you and I hope you liked this chapter, even though it was sad. _

**_Sarah:_**_ IT IS NOT NICE TO SPAM PEOPLE ON IMESSAGE. Are you happy? You got your chapter. Thanks. _

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ I'm big on the angst so I'm glad to be writing heavier, darker stuff again. I'm glad you'll keep reading the story and I'm sorry that you're upset with it right now! Still, I hope you sort of enjoyed this chapter. _

**_Summer1223:_**_ I think I make everyone's heart hurt at one point or another. We'll see what happens. I hope you liked it. _

_I got my cousin to watch PLL and she's actually intrigued like I am so proud of myself rn. She likes Toby and Emily is her favorite character right now. I'm so proud words cannot describe._

_So I'm going to try to update at least one more time before my break ends (almost definitely on my birthday, but maybe on the one-year anniversary of when I started this fic, too, if I can write two more chapters). Thanks for reading! **-Kayson**_


	38. Chapter 37

_**Author's Note: **Happy one-year anniversary of this story! Honestly, I was going to wait until my birthday to update, but I figured that I just had to update on the anniversary of when I started this story! Of course, it's not as happy as I'm sure many of you were hoping it would be when I began this story...but I hope you sort of enjoy it, nonetheless!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

Emily came over to Spencer's house the next morning. She knocked on the door and then rang the doorbell. After a few moments, she realized Spencer was still not in the door-answering mood. She looked around for the spare key and found it hidden under the welcome mat. Just as she was about to use the key, she put her hand on the doorknob and realized it was open. She felt her stomach turn. "Spencer?" She quickly closed the door and rushed up the stairs. The first place she looked was in Alex's room. Alex was sound asleep in his crib while Spencer was sitting in the corner on the floor.

"Spencer, this isn't 1942; you can't just leave the door open," Emily scolded. "Please don't tell me the door was open all night."

Spencer didn't respond. She just stared at the crib. Emily sighed and walked uncomfortably over to Spencer, sitting down next to her. "Listen, Spencer, I don't know what it's like to lose a child. I don't know the pain that you're in or the pain that Toby's in. It's not fair and it's sad and it's like you lost a piece of you, but don't you see that another piece of you is right in front of you?" she asked as she looked over at Alex's crib. "You can't do this. You can't just be reckless with him. And Toby can't be gone all the time."

Spencer took a deep breath. "I can't do this," she said as she wiped away tears that were beginning to form. She looked like she wanted to say more, but she couldn't find the words. She rested her head on Emily's shoulder and Emily held her for a while. After the tears gradually subsided, Spencer tried to talk about something else.

"How is Natalie? I barely spoke to her the other day," Spencer said as she pulled her sweater close to her.

Emily fidgeted uncomfortably. "She's alright."

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked with concern.

"We've just been…disagreeing on things lately," Emily responded.

Spencer felt a bit deflated. "Are things…really bad?" It was a question she almost didn't want to ask because she feared the answer.

"I…I don't know," Emily responded. "But don't worry about us, Spencer," she added quickly. "Have you spoken to Toby?" Spencer just signed loudly in response. "When was the last time you spoke to him?"

Spencer shrugged. "I think a few days ago? God," she muttered as she pressed her palms to her forehead, "I can't even remember the last time I saw him."

Emily was worried Spencer was about to start crying again, but Spencer simply shook her head and leaned back against the wall. Emily thought she heard Alex stirring. "Spence, I'm going to go see what I can make for breakfast. Why don't you feed Alex and come down later?"

Spencer looked reluctant but she eventually gave in. Emily got up and helped Spencer up before walking out of the room. Emily walked downstairs and quietly slipped out of the house. She paced back and forth on the front porch nervously as she called Toby's number. When she heard Toby's voice, she became hopeful that he'd answered, but she soon realized it was just his voicemail greeting.

"Toby, where are you? I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but Alex needs you. Spencer needs you, too." Emily thought about saying more, but hung up after that. She walked back inside the house and looked for something to make. She finally settled on eggs and pancakes—it was clear Spencer hadn't eaten in a while and she needed something to nourish her.

Spencer came down as Emily was finishing cooking the eggs. She placed Alex in his chair while she went into the fridge to get some fruits. She washed some blueberries and cut strawberries and bananas—which were surprisingly not rotten, considering she didn't know when she'd gotten them. She thought perhaps Natalie had gotten them at the store when she came over.

"You're making pancakes?" Spencer asked as she threw out the banana peels. Emily nodded as she put the last of the pancake batter on the skillet. "It's been a long time since I had those…"

About ten minutes later, Emily placed breakfast on the table. "Is Alex eating solid foods now?"

Spencer nodded. "We started giving him eggs a few months ago and he can eat pancakes. He loves them, actually." Alex reached out for the fruit and Spencer put some bananas on his plate. Alex grabbed onto her finger as she dropped a few pieces on his plate. "He really loves bananas," Spencer commented with a tiny smile.

"Do you like breakfast?" Emily asked.

Spencer nodded. "Thanks, Emily," she responded as she continued to feed Alex. Emily noted, however, that Spencer had barely touched her pancakes and only had a few bites of the scrambled eggs Emily made. After Alex finished eating, Spencer ate a little more, but she still didn't entirely finish her pancakes.

"Why don't you go take a shower and I'll watch Alex in the meantime?" Emily suggested as she cleaned the dishes. Spencer nodded before going upstairs. Emily finished doing the dishes before texting Hanna.

* * *

Aria was preparing dinner and chopping vegetables when Jason and Cassidy came home.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" Cassidy exclaimed as she ran through the house straight to the kitchen. "Look at the drawing I drew!" she said proudly. "Look! That's our house," she said as she pointed to a castle-like structure, "and that's me, you, Daddy, and Bor."

Aria smiled as she looked at the picture. "Cassidy, do you know where I think we should put it for now?" she asked. Cassidy looked at her curiously. Aria took the picture and hung it up on the refrigerator. "That way, Daddy and I can look at it all the time."

Cassidy smiled. "I'm going upstairs to draw, Mommy," she announced before running up the stairs.

"She's so cute," Aria commented, half to Jason and half to herself.

"She reminds me of you a lot. Today when we were driving home, we saw two deer in the woods and she asked if they were going to be able to make it home. Then she started talking about how cute they were."

Aria smiled as she thought of Cassidy saying that. She then recalled what she had wanted to talk to Jason about. "Jason, how was Toby today?" she asked.

Jason's smile dissipated. "I only saw him once today but he looked brutal. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week and to be honest I'm worried about him," Jason confessed.

"We need to get the both of them to reconcile," Aria said finally as she continued cutting carrots.

"I know, but how?" Jason asked.

Aria thought as she continued to chop but she had no ideas. "I don't know," she said finally.

Jason sighed as he walked towards the staircase. "I'm going to go see if I can get ahold of him on the phone."

"Don't get your hopes up," Aria advised. "Dinner will be ready at six."

* * *

Spencer stood idly as Hanna brushed some blush on her cheekbones.

"Hanna, I don't know if I'm ready for this," she said glumly.

Hanna bit her lip. After a momentary pause, she went back to primping Spencer. "You need to get your mind off of things. It's just one night, Spencer. Alex is in good hands; you know that. He's probably having a great time playing with Pamela as we speak."

Spencer forced a minute smile as the thought of the two of them. "I know, but I feel like a bad mother. I'm abandoning my son to go out with my best friend."

Hanna frowned. "Spencer, you're an amazing mother and you're not abandoning him."

"An amazing mother wouldn't have miscarried."

Hanna didn't say anything. She was scared to open this can of worms. She put Spencer's lipstick on and stepped away. "You look beautiful. Please just sit through dinner with me. It's not like we're going clubbing, Spencer. It's just dinner," she assured her.

Spencer forced a smile.

* * *

Spencer sat awkwardly at the table of the restaurant Hanna brought her to. The waiter came over and Hanna ordered two cocktails, even though Spencer insisted she was fine with just seltzer.

"You're going to have a drink, Spence. You need a pink drink," Hanna insisted.

Spencer took the drink reluctantly. She was indifferent about it, but she ordered another once she was done with it. And then another. And another.

"Whoa! Easy there!" Hanna said as she kept Spencer from spilling her fourth—maybe fifth—cocktail all over herself.

"Give me!" Spencer retorted as she reached out to grab the drink from Hanna's hand. "I deserve it after all I've been through."

Hanna didn't argue, so she just let Spencer grab the drink. Hanna was about to say something when her phone began to ring. It was Caleb.

"Hey, Caleb. I'm here with Spencer. Don't you remember I told you I was taking her out tonight? I'll be back later. Bye. I love you," she said before hanging up.

Spencer got this far-off look in her eyes. It was tinted with sadness. "I remember when my husband used to call me like that," she said plainly. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Now I can barely get him to talk to me," she added as she looked down into the drink.

Hanna didn't know what to say. She gulped. "It can be fixed, you know."

Spencer stared at her for a few moments before laughing cynically. "We're not even sleeping together anymore."

Hanna shook her head. "Spence, that's perfectly normal, especially after—"

"Hanna," Spencer interrupted, "we're not even sleeping in the same bed anymore." Spencer took a deep breath before continuing. "We barely speak and—" Spencer began to cry before she could even finish the sentence. "He can't even look at me anymore."

Hanna just looked at her best friend sadly. She didn't know what she could say or do. There really was nothing she could say or do to make it better. "Do you want to go home?"

Spencer sniffled. "I don't even know where that is anymore. I always thought that he was my home, but I don't know anymore." She sniffled again before mumbling "I don't know, I don't know" over and over again under her breath.

Hanna quickly asked for the check before she helped a wobbly Spencer back to the car (luckily Hanna had only one cocktail and was safe to be driving back to Spencer's place, where Melissa was probably waiting for Spencer with Pamela and Alex).

"I just don't want to be left alone again, Hanna," Spencer confessed as she leaned her head against the car window.

Hanna looked over at Spencer as they stopped at a red light. "You're not going to be left alone. Toby would never leave you."

Spencer was silent for a moment before she said, "I think he's already thinking about it."

Hanna was ready to argue, but she knew that Spencer would shoot her down immediately. Even though she looked raging drunk, she was still a Hastings at heart; she could tear your argument down easily. Hanna just reached out to put her hand on Spencer's shoulder reassuringly. They got home quickly and Hanna helped Spencer into her room. She helped Spencer take off her makeup and her dress before she laid Spencer down in bed. She went down the hall to Alex's nursery to see Melissa sitting in the rocking chair, rocking Alex as he slept.

"Oh, hey, Hanna," Melissa whispered as she got up to put Alex down in the crib. She took Pamela by the hand before walking into the hallway. In a normal voice, she said, "I didn't even hear you come in with Spencer."

Hanna sighed. "She's really not doing well. Do you think you could maybe stay the night? I would stay the night with her but…I don't know. I feel like she could really use her sister right now."

"It's that bad?" Melissa questioned. Hanna told her that Spencer and Toby were going through some hard times, but she wasn't sure exactly what that meant. Hanna nodded in response. "I guess Pamela and I could stay in the guest bedroom," she said as she looked down at her daughter. "How bad is it?"

Hanna looked down at the floor. "She told me she and Toby aren't even sleeping in the same bed anymore when he does come home. She said that he can't even look at her when he is around. And from the way she was talking about him, it sounded like he's not home often," she explained.

Melissa frowned. "This is really bad."

"I know."

* * *

**_Kathryn2014: _**_I have a couple of things in mind. You have good instincts, but just wait for it. I hope you liked it!_

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ It'll definitely make the both of them feel worse, but they'll talk about this. It'll happen probably sooner than you think. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. _

**_Summer1223:_**_ It's coming soon. Spencer and Alex need Toby, but don't forget that Toby is dealing with a lot, too. Things will sort themselves out in a sort-of weird way. You guys just have to trust me on this. I hope you liked this chapter. _

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ I hope you liked the chapter!_

_So I bet a lot of you are wondering where Toby's been. It's been two whole chapters since we've seen him and the last time we saw him, he was sobbing with Spencer. I promise he'll be back next chapter. Pinkie swear. And also, thank you guys for a wonderful year! **-Kayson**_


	39. Chapter 38

_**Author's Note: **I hope you guys like Spelissa and Spanna because there's some in this chapter. Also Tomily. Did I mention Toby finally comes back? He's been missing for forever._

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

Melissa woke up bright and early the next morning. She left Pamela sleeping when she got up. She did some laundry which Spencer had clearly been neglecting. She had just put the laundry in the dryer when Spencer woke up and stumbled into the kitchen. She was very clearly hung over. Melissa slid a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water towards Spencer. Spencer groaned as she took out two aspirin and washed them down with the water. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

Spencer stared at Melissa for a few moments. "I'll let you know when I remember," she said.

Melissa frowned. "We need to talk." Before they could answer, they heard Alex crying through the baby monitor. Spencer quickly walked upstairs to go get her soon. Melissa followed her upstairs.

By the time Melissa had gotten up the stairs and walked into Alex's room, Spencer had him in her arms and he had stopped crying. Melissa stared for a few seconds. "Aren't you worried about him?" she asked.

Spencer bit her lip as she held him closer. "I am but…I mean, if our relationship has run its course, maybe it's better we split up."

Melissa shook her head. "But it hasn't."

Spencer sighed. "And how do you know that, Melissa?"

"Because a month ago, Toby looked at you like you were the most important person in the world to him and you looked at him in the same way. You're going through a rough patch because something horrible happened," Melissa declared stubbornly.

"Well, it feels like more than a rough patch."

"You both love each other," Melissa said. "Nothing the both of you say or do can convince me otherwise."

Spencer didn't respond to that. "I'm going to make eggs. Alex likes eggs. Does Pamela?" she asked.

"Spencer, stop avoiding the subject!" Melissa exclaimed. She pulled out her phone and handed it to Spencer. "Here. Call your husband."

Spencer sighed. "Melissa…I'm not doing this now."

"Well, when are you going to do it?" Melissa demanded. "You need to, Spencer! I know you keep saying that Toby won't talk to you and when he does, it's in a couple of words, but how many times have you actually reached out to him?" she asked.

Spencer didn't answer at all. "I'll be downstairs," she said as she brushed past her sister.

Melissa let out an exasperated sigh before she left the room. She went to wake up Pamela, who woke up reluctantly. She got up and rubbed her eyes, yawning slightly. "Mommy," she complained.

"Come on. Aunt Spencer is downstairs cooking breakfast," Melissa said as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Good, but can we go home tonight?" Pamela asked.

Melissa nodded. "Of course, Bumblebee. Come on," she said as she took her daughter by the hand and walked downstairs with her. "We're just taking care of Auntie Spencer right now."

"Where is Uncle Toby?"

Melissa stopped. Pamela looked up at her expectantly. "I don't know, Pam, but he's coming back soon."

Pamela smiled. "I miss him."

* * *

"Emily, this is a very bad idea," Natalie said to Emily on the phone.

Emily rolled her eyes. "I promise, this is a good idea. Listen, I have to go, but I'll see you later."

"Emily!" Natalie protested. Before she could say anything else, Emily hung up on her. She focused on what was in front of her.

She was standing in front of the building where Toby and Jason worked. There were one or two other offices in this building. She made a beeline for the elevator. Toby and Jason were on the third floor—the top floor. Emily hoped Toby would listen to her. She hadn't seen him in quite a long time. She was almost scared to see him again.

Toby hadn't opted for the high-fashion design (he was always more of a traditional kind of person), so Emily couldn't see in his office from outside. She found the door which had his name on it. She knocked softly on the door.

"Who is it?" a muffled voice asked.

"It's Emily," Emily announced. "Will you please let me in, Toby?"

There was silence for a few moments. Emily was scared he was just going to ignore her. Just as she was about to give up and walk away, she heard someone opening the door. Toby opened the door and he looked…well, awful, to say the least.

Emily bit her tongue to keep from saying something she shouldn't about his appearance. "Can I come in?" she asked after a moment.

"I have a lot of work to do," he said as he avoided eye contact.

Emily glared. "I know you. You're usually already a week or two ahead in work. You've been holed up in your office for so long that you must be ahead for at least a month," she said as she pushed her way into his office. He sighed and closed the door behind her. She looked around the room. She noted the bag of clothes sitting beside his desk. "When was the last time you went home, Toby?" she inquired. He didn't answer. More sternly, she asked again, "When was the last time you went home?"

"I don't know," he responded.

"This isn't fair," she said finally. "This isn't fair of you to do this to Spencer. She misses you, Toby. She _needs _you. You're her husband!"

He just sighed and sat down in a chair near his desk. "I'm sure she's better off without me…"

"Okay, then what about your son?"

Toby buried his face in his hands. "I don't want to talk about this, Emily…"

"Well, when are you going to talk about it? You don't even talk to Spencer anymore. Do you know how much it must hurt her?" Emily asked.

Toby didn't answer. "I don't know how to talk to her."

Emily sat down next to him. "Just open up and talk to her. The two of you love each other. You've told each other everything about your past. Just be open with her about your feelings," Emily insisted as she put her hand on his. "You're going to be alright. But go back home to her. Ask her out so you can talk about this. Pick a neutral place," she suggested. "But you need to do it now."

* * *

Spencer fidgeted with her dress as she looked in the mirror. A few months ago, she would've told herself that this feeling was absolutely _ridiculous_; he was her _husband_. Now, she felt as though their marriage was completely falling apart. She felt like if there was any hope at all for their marriage, this night had to go perfectly.

They met in a small restaurant two blocks away from their house. Toby was sitting, waiting for Spencer when she got there.

"Hello," he said uneasily when she saw him.

"Hello," she replied as she sat down. She took a deep breath. The tension between the two of them was palpable, almost like it was visible in the air.

There were a lot of things they both wanted to say to each other. More than anything, they wanted to tell the other that they were missing them. They missed waking up together. They missed each other's smile. They missed hearing about the other's day. They felt like virtual strangers now.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said finally.

"Thanks." Normally that "thank you" would have been accompanied by a slight blush but Spencer only fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. This "date" of sorts was already extremely uncomfortable and it had started only about two minutes ago.

"How is Alex?"

She almost wanted to yell at him for asking that question. Instead, she answered snidely, "I feel like you should know that, considering you're his father and all." She realized that was a bit harsh when she noticed how is eyes darkened. "He's okay but he probably misses you," she responded more tranquilly.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he said finally.

She just shrugged uncomfortably. They stayed silent for a while before they started drinking. It all became a haze after that.

* * *

Spencer woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. It was like she could feel how awful she looked. She groaned when she fully realized the pain she was in from this hangover.

She pulled the sheets closer to her when she realized she was naked. The clothes on the floor indicated to her that she came home with someone else—though, honestly, she was so drunk the previous night that she probably could have come home and slept with three other people and she wouldn't remember it. She looked over her shoulder to see Toby lying there.

A part of her wanted to pull him closer to her and begin crying. She'd cry over how messed up everything was and how much pain she was in (both physically and mentally).

The larger part of her won out. She groggily threw her legs over the edge of the bed and got up. She got her bathrobe and began to play the part of a housewife.

She always thought those wives who resembled the Stepfords were seriously a bit mentally deranged. She never quite understood how a woman could be alright with being so submissive to her husband. Now, it seemed almost fitting to her. She could feel herself going crazy and her only response was to be robotic. She cleaned up around the house. She prepared a perfect breakfast for three.

* * *

She was late.

Not only was she late for her meeting with Hanna about the bakery, but she was _late_—as if being late to the meeting wasn't already bad enough.

It was that morning that she realized she was supposed to have gotten her period five days earlier. She wasn't even keeping track. This could _not _really be happening.

She supposed she would've been happier if she wasn't still so distant from her husband. Though he was more consistent about coming home and everything like that, he was still not sleeping with her in the bedroom. Either she was sleeping in the guest bedroom or he was. Things weren't hostile between them, just awkward. Spencer thought she would have almost _preferred _if things were hostile; at least then she'd know where she stood with him. Now, she was stuck in this state of not knowing his feelings for her or even her own feelings for him.

She would have to apologize profusely to Hanna for missing the meeting, but Hanna would probably insist it was alright. Hanna was also acting weird around Spencer. She let nearly everything slide, whereas Hanna before the miscarriage would have nailed Spencer to the wall over any minor mishap. It was weird to Spencer.

After going to the store to get an early pregnancy test, Spencer arrived home to see Hanna's car on the street outside her house. She did not need this right now.

"Hey, Spencer, I—"

"Not now, Hanna," Spencer interrupted tersely before brushing past Hanna and into the nearest bathroom.

"Spencer! What's wrong?" Hanna asked from outside the door.

"I can't talk right now, Hanna," Spencer responded as she tore open the box.

"Spencer, you—" Hanna stopped herself. "Wait a second," she said. "Are you taking a pregnancy test?"

Spencer sighed loudly. "Can we not ask this now?"

"Spencer, you have to have sex to get pregnant."

Spencer set the timer and put the test on the counter before peeking her head out of the bathroom. "I know that, Han. I passed ninth grade biology."

Hanna just stared at Spencer with wide eyes. "Spencer! When did you do it with Toby? I thought you guys were in a bad place at the moment."

"We are," Spencer responded simply.

Hanna stood with her mouth agape for a few moments. "Are you telling me that you hooked up with someone else?"

"No!" Spencer exclaimed. She sighed and crossed her arms. "Do you remember that date I told you Emily set up for the both of us?" Hanna nodded. "Well, we both sort of got really drunk and I don't remember exactly what happened, but it's pretty safe to assume that we slept together afterward. I woke up the next morning naked and our clothes were all around the room."

"At any other time, I'd ask for all the dirty details but this is pretty messed up, Spence."

"I know," Spencer responded. "Hanna, I don't know if I'm ready for this _this _soon. And what if I am pregnant and it just ends up the same way? I don't know if I can deal with that again," Spencer said.

Hanna wrapped her arms around Spencer. A few moments later, the timer began to go off. "Spencer, do you want me to look at it?" Spencer nodded. Hanna picked up the test and looked at it for a couple of moments before showing it to Spencer.

"It's positive."

* * *

**_Kathryn2014: _**_They're coming...eventually. You'll see. It'll work itself out. Just trust me. I'm not Marlene. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you. My first fanfiction's two-year anniversary is coming up soon. I'll probably try to update all of my stories to celebrate. _

**_Summer1223: _**_They can work out their problems. They're Spoby! They can do it! Thanks for reading/reviewing!_

**_sarah:_**_ I think I mentioned Hanna painting an elephant in Alex's room. Isn't that enough? *sighs* fine child I will figure something out. I like you. Only sometimes, though. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_It'll get better. I promise. _

_I really tricked you guys into thinking that an intervention was happening? Nah, Emily went with her own idea (obviously to Natalie's chagrin). You can be the judge of how successful it was._

_So...for my birthday, I'd really like a review! Like I'd really, really, really like it. It would be like the cherry on top of my birthday sundae. It only takes two seconds. You know what, you could even write "this sucks" as your review and I'd still like it (okay maybe that's sort of a lie but at least it lets me know people are reading). I'll probably be updating sometime next week. **-Kayson**_


	40. Chapter 39

_**Author's Note:** I'm back with some...answers? idk. But anyway, I felt it was very important to post today because it is the two year anniversary of my membership on this site and I'm a narcissist who wants to celebrate that :)_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

Spencer took a deep breath. She didn't know whether she was happy with this news. She was trying to withhold judgment until she figured this all out. She didn't want her heart to be broken again.

"How do you feel about this, Spence?" Hanna asked cautiously.

Spencer shook her head. "I don't know."

Hanna shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. "How are you going to tell Toby?"

Spencer wanted to curse just thinking about how she was supposed to do this. "I have no idea. What am I supposed to do, Han? Am I supposed to just go up to him and say that I'm pregnant? Am I supposed to hide it until I know for sure?" Spencer was clearly stressing out over this.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Spencer acquiesced tacitly. "I think you need to tell him. It'll be worse if you don't. And I'm not saying that you should sweep all your other problems under the rug, but maybe it'll help you reconnect with him and that's a start." Spencer nodded in response. They stood in silence for a few moments before Hanna spoke up. "So have you guys reconnected at all? You know, since your little slip?"

Spencer shrugged. "We've had dinner together a few times but he's been working late nights. I already told you about the whole bedroom situation. It makes me sad, Hanna."

Hanna rubbed Spencer's shoulder before reaching out to hold her hand. "You guys are going to get through this."

Spencer pulled away after a moment and began to walk away. "The thing that really scares me about you saying that is that this was exactly what Melissa was thinking before her marriage ended. She really thought they could work it out until eventually, she reached a point where she couldn't take living like this anymore. I love Melissa, but I don't want my marriage to end up like hers."

"It won't, Spencer," Hanna assured her. "I hope you don't get upset at me for saying this, but Melissa was unhappy in her marriage anyway. You weren't unhappy until this pregnancy and all of this started happening."

Spencer didn't say anything but she thought about what Hanna was saying. "I guess that's true."

"Spence, if you were still pregnant right now, you and Toby would practically be in the honeymoon phase. But now you guys are dealing with grief and it seems like you both have your own ways of dealing with it, but you like dealing with it separately."

Spencer nodded. After a few moments she hugged Hanna. "Thanks for being there. And I'm really sorry about the meeting."

Hanna shook her head. "Don't even worry about it, Spence. This is way more important," she insisted.

* * *

Spencer cooked in the kitchen later that day. She was so nervous about telling Toby. She was scared that he wouldn't take it well. She thought she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't get _angry_. She was just worried that they wouldn't be able to work past these problems enough to prepare for this baby.

If there was a baby.

She was still a little bit in denial. She felt weird thinking about being pregnant again. She couldn't believe she was pregnant _again_; this was her fourth pregnancy.

All those thoughts were quelled as she heard the front door open. She didn't even look up. She was very anxious to even see him. She hated lying to him, no matter how good or bad things were in their relationship. She felt like he could see right through her.

"Hey, Spencer!" He sounded chipper. Something good must have happened.

"Oh, hey," she responded simply. "Dinner is going to be ready soon. I have something kind of important to tell you."

"Oh."

"Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes," Spencer announced. "Can you do me a favor and see if Alex needs to be changed?"

"Sure," he responded before walking over to the living room and picking up Alex. While he was gone and she was left alone, she contemplated how she was going to say it. Was she supposed to have some long soliloquy before she came out and said it? Was she supposed to just come right out and say it? Was she supposed to let him guess or something? She took a deep breath as she set the table.

Toby came back down with Alex right after Spencer took dinner out of the oven. Things were awkwardly silent between the two of them for about five minutes after they both sat down. The only noises were Alex babbling something incoherently. After Spencer decided this silence was intolerable, she cleared her throat. "I have something really important I needed to tell you."

Toby looked almost scared. Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "But it looks like you have something to say first. Is something wrong?"

Toby shook his head. "I-I mean, aside from the usual, no? I don't think so? You're scaring me, Spence," he said. Spencer couldn't help but smile slightly. It was the first time he had called her Spence in a long time.

She straightened up again. "I have either good news or bad news. It depends on how you look at the situation." She took another deep breath. "I…I'm pregnant."

The room was completely silent. "You're…you're…" He couldn't even say the word. "Really?"

Spencer nodded. "How do you feel about it?"

He was just as expressionless as she was for a few moments before he smiled. "I…I feel great about it." She looked down self-consciously. He reached out to hold her hand. "Spencer, isn't this what you wanted?"

Spencer shrugged. "I thought it was what I wanted, but now I'm just really scared," she confessed. "I don't want to lose this baby like I've lost two already." She felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "And I'm scared that you're not going to be here. I've barely seen any of you lately."

"I'll be around more. I promise," he responded immediately. "I'm going to be around more," he repeated, like repeating it enough would solidify it.

Spencer felt almost a little relieved at his great reaction, but she still wasn't sure how she felt herself. She felt like this was all just one big, twisted joke.

* * *

"I have something to tell you," Hanna said as she sat down on the floor after getting a glass of water. This was typically how Hanna and Caleb had takeout: on the floor of their living room at the coffee table. It was weird, but they'd already grown very accustomed to it. Caleb looked up at her expectantly. "Spencer is pregnant."

Caleb looked incredulous for a few moments. When Hanna continued to stare at him as she took a bite of her lo mein, he believed her. "So soon?"

Hanna nodded. "I guess. She told me her and Toby got really drunk and that's apparently how it happened. She was just really scared when she found out."

Caleb furrowed his eyebrows. "You were with her when she found out?" Hanna nodded. "Was Toby there?"

Hanna shook her head. "He was working and she was with me." Hanna looked up from the food and looked at Caleb for a few moments before she spoke up. "Would you want to be there when I found out I was pregnant? If I found out I was pregnant?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, of course." Caleb realized what she said and looked up at her quickly. "Wait…are you trying to tell me something?"

"No!" Hanna exclaimed quickly. "You know me. I can't keep a secret. If I were pregnant, half the world would know by now," she said with a small laugh. Caleb couldn't help but agree. After a few moments of silence, Hanna asked, "How do you feel about children?"

Caleb took a deep breath as he contemplated this question. "I want them, definitely. I don't know if I'm ready for children at this moment, but…if it happens, then it happens," he responded.

Hanna nodded. She was kind of happy to hear that. "How many kids do you want?"

"More than one," he responded. "I've always thought that it's kind of lonely being an only child."

"Tell me about it. I was a lonely only child for sixteen years and then I had my stepsister from hell. Let's just promise that if things don't work out, we won't give our children bitchy step-siblings," Hanna proposed.

"Deal," Caleb responded.

"Swear on it?" Hanna asked as she held out her pinkie finger. Caleb smiled before hooking his pinkie around hers. She smiled in response.

* * *

A week and a half later, Melissa came over with Pamela while Toby was at work. Spencer had agreed to watch Pamela since Melissa was going for a job interview. Melissa was still having coffee with Spencer before the interview.

Well, she was supposed to. Melissa realized something was off when Spencer poured only Melissa a cup of coffee and opted for a cup of tea instead. "Are you sick again, Spencer?" Melissa asked as she noted Spencer's choice of beverage. "I don't remember the last time I've seen you pick tea over coffee."

Spencer was silent as she slid the coffee towards her sister. After taking a sip of the tea, she responded, "It's the doctor's orders."

"Why? What's so bad about coffee?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not supposed to be having a lot of caffeine," she replied. Melissa furrowed her eyebrows. "Pregnant women aren't supposed to have caffeine," she explained.

Melissa was confused for a moment. She then realized what her sister had just said. "_Pregnant_?" Melissa asked. "Since when?"

"I found out like two weeks ago," Spencer responded nonchalantly.

She seemed indifferent. This threw Melissa off. "You don't seem to be happy about it."

Spencer put the drink down and avoided eye contact. Finally, she said, "I'm just scared this is going to end up like last time."

Melissa frowned. "It's not going to." Melissa couldn't help but look down at Spencer's still-flat stomach. "Have you spoken to your doctor about the miscarriage? Do you know why it happened?"

"I haven't seen my OB/GYN, but the doctor at the hospital told me that he couldn't determine why the miscarriage happened…"

They sat in silence for a few moments. Spencer looked over at the clock. "You should probably get going. You have a job interview to get to," Spencer announced.

"Are you sure you'll be alright taking care of her?" Melissa asked as she handed the empty coffee cup to Spencer.

"Do you not trust me with my own niece and goddaughter?" Spencer inquired with a slight smile.

Melissa was glad to see that she could still smile. "I hope so. I shouldn't be gone for that long. I don't know how long the interview is, but I'll come back right after," she promised as she grabbed her bag. "Pamela, be good for Auntie Spencer," she said to her daughter.

"Yes, Mommy," Pamela promised as she gave Melissa a small hug.

"Spence, maybe this isn't the right time, but can I ask you one more favor?" Melissa asked as Spencer took another sip of her tea and Pamela ran off to go find the cats. Spencer looked up expectantly. "Can you watch Pamela on Friday night?"

"Sure, but only if you tell me why," Spencer said with an intrigued look in her eyes.

Melissa bit her lip. "I have a date on Friday. I know I usually make sure that I spend Fridays with Pamela, but it was the only time we both had off and…I really like him," she said.

"Really?" Spencer hadn't even heard of Melissa mention a boyfriend ever since she got a divorce. Spencer was beginning to think Melissa was never going to date again; she seemed so uninterested in men. "Do I get to meet him?"

Melissa began to walk towards the door and she didn't answer for a few moments. "You already know him." Spencer was a bit shocked. Melissa turned and finally faced her sister. "It's…Dr. Kingston. Wren," she announced.

"Wren? You're dating Wren?" Spencer asked.

"Are you upset about it?" Melissa asked.

"No! No, it's just…" It was weird to think of Wren and Melissa together. It wasn't that Spencer had a problem with it. It was just really weird to think that she had slept with Wren before. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"Like two months now?"

Spencer could hardly believe it. "Is he the first person you've seen since…?"

"No, but he's the first person I've gone on more than one date with," she responded. "I'm really happy and I really like him. Even if I don't keep seeing him, he's a really nice guy."

"I know he is," Spencer responded as she opened the door for her sister.

"Take care of my baby and your babies," Melissa said with a smile as she looked down at her sister's still-flat stomach.

"I will," Spencer said with a slight smile.

* * *

**_Guest: _**_Well...she is going to tell Toby like this! I hope it made sense. I feel like I kind of liked that scene and at the same time I didn't. Thanks for reviewing!_

**_Guest:_**_ Thank you (for the birthday wishes and reading/reviewing)! Things will work themselves out...I promise._

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I don't know if you're psychic or something, but I think you got it. Thank you for the happy birthday and for reading._

**_Guest:_**_ Thank you so much for the great review and the happy birthday! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. _

**_Summer1223:_**_ That episode was a hot mess. I loved the whole theme but the "reveal" was a freaking mess. I just wish the writers would stop hyping everything up and making everything out to be greater than chocolate cheesecake. It annoys me to no end. If I'm being totally honest, I don't think "Charles" is Jason's twin. I'll probably have a theory or something later on, but for right now, that's all I've sorted out. Thanks for reading!_

**_Kathryn2014: _**_He does find out this chapter! I hope you were pleased with his response. _

**_Guest:_**_ Here is the next chapter!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Hopefully! Thanks for reading!_

**_Riley: _**_Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_**Sarah: **I think I'm being a mean, mean person. I hope you liked it anyway even though I'm breaking your heart. _

_Thank yew guys for giving me birthday responses :) It was awesome reading through them and I really appreciate them :) Thank you for two amazing years! I also wanted to let you guys know that after this chapter, there's only 11 chapters and an epilogue left. I just wanted to give you a head's up. **-Kayson** _


	41. Chapter 40

_**Author's Note: **You guys can all thank Lexy and Sarah for this chapter because they keep telling me to update so I finally finished the chapter and now I'm finally updating :)_

* * *

**Chapter Forty**

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl? What if it's twins? Aren't you excited, Spencer?" Toby was asking a billion questions a minute and Spencer found it to be rather endearing.

She laughed. "Toby."

"Aren't you excited?" he repeated.

Spencer looked around the room. They were at the doctor's, waiting for Dr. Reynolds to check up on the baby. "I am, but…I'm scared."

"What are you scared of?" he asked.

"I'm scared that this child is…not going to…" she trailed off. "I don't have the greatest track record when it comes to children and pregnancy."

He laced his fingers in hers. Neither one of them said anything.

A few minutes later, Dr. Reynolds walked into the room. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh," she greeted as she pulled over the ultrasound machine. "How are you today?"

"Nervous," Spencer responded honestly.

"Oh?" Dr. Reynolds asked with concern in her voice. "Hopefully we can quell your fears right now. Lay back for me?"

Spencer took a deep breath as she did what she was told. She lifted her shirt before Dr. Reynolds put the ultrasound gel on her stomach.

"You're supposed to be almost two months now, right?" Dr. Reynolds asked as she began to take a look at Spencer's stomach. Spencer nodded.

Dr. Reynolds furrowed her eyebrows after a few moments. "This is odd," she remarked.

"What?"

"I…I can't seem to find the heartbeat," Dr. Reynolds responded. She looked for several seconds more. "I'm very sorry, but—"

"Don't—"

* * *

Instead of running away from each other like the last time, Spencer sat curled up in Toby's arm in their bedroom. Alex was asleep in his room. When they had gotten home, Melissa quickly saw not to ask questions when she saw the looks on their faces.

Spencer didn't feel sad. She just felt numb. Then she felt guilty that she didn't feel sad. She felt as though she hadn't really let herself love this baby like she had with the others and that's why she didn't feel as much loss. She could see that it was much harder on Toby.

Out of the two of them, he was the one to cry. It felt weird for her to watch him cry like this, especially since she'd seen him act stoic over the loss of the last baby.

"I can't believe this happened again," Spencer said, half to herself and half to him.

"It's not your fault," he assured her.

She sighed. "I can't help but feel like it is." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I keep screwing this up for us…"

"No, you're not! Don't say that!"

She didn't say anything. "I don't want to lose you again…not like the last time," she confessed quietly.

He was absolutely silent for a few moments. Then, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her temple. This was his way of saying that it wasn't going to happen again.

* * *

"I just feel numb. It's like…I don't know how to feel," Spencer confessed as she pulled seltzer out of the fridge and poured a glass with lemon for herself and Natalie. "And I feel like an evil person just admitting that," she added. "But it's like I can't get sad over something or someone I didn't know and didn't even really love. It was different last time. I let myself love that child. But this time…I just felt like this was going to happen." She took a sip of her water as Natalie listened intently. "And…just looking at Toby makes me sad. I just don't know how to make him feel better."

"It's not your job to fix him, Spencer." Spencer looked up at Natalie as she slid a glass to her. "I know you want to because you love him and he's your husband, but the most you can do for him is help him get through it like he'll help you." Spencer tapped her fingernails on the glass. "Last time, both of you tried to hide your feelings and act like nothing happened. This time, you guys just need to support each other and lean on each other."

Spencer knew Natalie was right. Maybe she was scared of being rejected. It was weird. She just felt like she couldn't really just lean on him. She'd gotten so used to trying to pick up the pieces herself that she didn't really know how to lean on someone else. She'd grown up that way and in every other relationship she was in, she hid away her feelings.

"I guess I've just never really gone to anyone when I was sad about something like this. Nobody's ever really needed me for things like this…"

"He needs you for something like this," Natalie insisted. "Please promise me you'll talk to him," she pleaded.

After a moment's hesitation, Spencer nodded. "I promise."

* * *

Emily knocked on the open door of Toby's office. Jason had sent her a text message earlier in the day saying that he was concerned about Toby, but that Toby wouldn't talk to him. Emily hoped that some of Hanna's chocolate peanut butter cookies (Toby's favorite) would get him to talk to her.

"Can I come in?" Emily asked when he didn't answer.

He murmured a reply. Emily carefully closed the door and sat down across from him. His eyes were downcast, but it was nothing compared to the disheveled mess she had found weeks prior.

"Hanna made you cookies. Your favorite."

He didn't even bother to force a small smile. "She didn't have to do that."

"She wanted to," Emily insisted. "And I wanted to talk to you. To cheer you up, you know?"

"I think it's going to take a lot more than cookies to do that," he responded glumly. Then, he looked up at Emily. "I'm sorry, Emily."

Emily shook her head as she put down the cookies. "Don't apologize."

He sighed. "I don't know what to do," he confessed. "I don't know how to be there for Spencer and I know that makes me awful—"

"It does not make you awful," Emily insisted. "It makes you human."

"I'm supposed to be there for her," he said evenly. All the wobbliness of his voice was missing, like he was absolutely sure of this, if nothing else in the entire world. "And I wasn't. I failed."

"You didn't fail, Toby." Toby didn't respond. After silence, Emily asked, "Have you said any of this to Spencer?"

Toby shook his head after a brief pause. "I don't know how we're going to be able to do this. I love her—I love her so much—but I feel like we're just going to fall apart."

Emily shook her head. "No, you're not going to," she said firmly. "You can't. You love each other too much for this."

* * *

"They're in a lot of trouble and they can't just throw away their whole relationship!" Emily said as she paced back and forth in front of Natalie.

"We are doing my intervention idea this time," Natalie insisted as she stood up and stopped Emily's nervous pacing.

"Natalie—"

"Emily!" Natalie exclaimed. "You went with your idea last time and look at how that ended up. We need to mediate," she insisted.

Emily crossed her arms. "I still don't think they're going to be totally open if we're right there in front of them."

"Yes, they will be. We're not there to add our own opinions; we're there to make sure they don't just ignore their feelings and hop right into bed like last time," Natalie explained. "Come on, Em. This has to be done. You know it."

Emily sighed. "I guess you're right."

* * *

Spencer walked into the house with Natalie. She followed Natalie into the living room and stopped when she noticed Toby and Emily sitting on the couch. She wasn't upset seeing them. She was just a bit taken aback, mostly because she thought Toby was working today.

"Oh, hey," she said to both of them.

Natalie gestured for Spencer to sit down near Toby as she sat next to Emily. Spencer sat down. She felt a bit weary being here. "What's this about?"

Emily and Natalie exchanged glances. Finally, Natalie sighed and began to speak. "Emily and I don't want the same thing to happen to you guys that happened last time. We thought that it might be most effective to talk about everything right now. We don't want you guys to feel like we're forcing anything. We're really just here to mediate," Natalie said. "We're also sort of here to make sure you don't run away."

Spencer and Toby both looked uncomfortable. Finally, Spencer spoke up. "Where do you want to begin?"

Toby didn't have an answer. When they all stayed silent, Natalie finally spoke up. "Emily and I don't want to see you guys pulling away from each other. Neither does anyone else. We want to see you guys turn to each other when you're in a lot of pain."

Emily nodded in agreement. "I mean, Melissa's talked about how she's nervous about the two of you and nervous about Alex—"

Spencer took a deep breath and Emily fell silent. "I feel like such a bad mother," she confessed.

"You're not a bad mother, Spencer," Toby argued. "If anyone's a bad parent, it's me."

Spencer looked very uncomfortable and sad. They all got really quiet. Natalie spoke up again. "How do you guys really feel about losing this baby?"

They both stared at each other for a few moments. "I feel…numb," Spencer revealed. "I feel numb and I feel guilty for not feeling anything."

Toby looked like he didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…I can't cry like you! I can't—I've already lost two children and losing a third one has been…" She laughed cynically. "I feel like I'm losing my mind because I'm not sad." She dug her own fingernails into her skin—a clear sign of her anxiety. "And I feel like I'm losing you, too. I miss how happy we used to be."

"I miss it, too," Toby said as his voice cracked.

"I miss you but I don't know how to make you feel better and…I don't know how to lean on you at a time like this," she said. "I've always hid my tears because you weren't allowed to cry in my family. Melissa never cried. My parents never showed any emotions. I always kept my pain a secret and I never cried in front of anyone…" She felt some tears staining her cheeks. "And now I feel weak because I'm doing it in front of you."

"You're not weak; you're one of the strongest people I know," he said as he sat closer to her.

Spencer sighed. "I mean…I guess I always sort of knew that I'm stronger than most but it doesn't keep me from feeling vulnerable in a bad way," she said. She took a deep breath. "And I feel guilty that I can't have another child."

Toby didn't seem to know this. "You…you can't have another one?"

"I mean…I don't think so. I mean, I don't exactly have a great track record and…do you really want to risk going through this again?" she asked.

He thought about it. "If it was what you wanted—"

"But I don't know if it's something I want. I don't think it is. Of course, I wanted to have more than one child, but I don't want to deal with this _emptiness_. It's not worth it. We already have one child," she said.

Emily and Natalie witnessed the conversation but they felt as though they weren't even there anymore. They quickly got up and watched the two from the dining room, giving them a little more privacy.

Toby moved so he was sitting next to Spencer. She curled up into his arm. "But how are you feeling? I feel like we always talk about me and it's never about you."

"I'm sad, but I care more about you and about us than having another child, even though that would be great," he said.

"I feel like a selfish person but can you please just hold me right now?" Spencer murmured into his neck. Emily and Natalie took this as their cue to leave.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm really glad that you liked it! I hope you sort of enjoyed this one. I know it's probably a really sad chapter but it had to happen because...reasons._

**_Summer1223:_**_ I'd love to see more of Spencer and Melissa. In general, I'd just like to see a whole show centered around Hanna and Spencer. Not that I don't love Emily and Aria (when she's not drooling over Ezra), but I think those two are like a perfect comedic pairing. I hope you enjoyed it!_

**_Guest:_**_ I can't believe it's almost over! I truthfully don't know what I'm going to do with myself when this is over since it's been going on for nearly two years now and it was my second fanfic. Thank you so much. I'm really not planning on deleting any of my fanfictions. I always get really sad when good writers delete all of their fanfictions for a few ridiculous people sending them hate. ...I'm sorry._

**_Sarah: _**_BRING ON THE SPAM. MY PHONE IS READY. I did it all because you mentioned Ed in a review. It's all your fault. Can't wait for the angry texts._

**_Kathryn2014:_**_ Did Toby take the news better this time? I'm kind of hoping he did because that was what I was going for. I hope you liked it, although I can't imagine anyone liking me after publishing this chapter. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thank you for reviewing and I'm so sorry. _

**_Spobylover:_**_ I'm glad you liked it! I hope you sort of liked this. _

_I said I'm sorry a lot (at least, I feel like I did), but...I'm not really all that sorry, tbh. I have a whole storyline mapped out in my brain and this fits into it perfectly. AND AN EXPLANATION oh my God. I sincerely do have an explanation coming up. And it makes sense. _

_I know you all probably hate me right now. Plz don't spam me. (Unless it's on Tumblr and then you're welcome to spam me whenever your heart desires.) -**Kayson**_


	42. Chapter 41

_**Author's Note:** Someone you guys might have mixed feelings about is (sort of) in this chapter :) It's my first fanfic's second birthday so I tried to make a nice, long chapter. _

* * *

**Chapter Forty-One**

A week and a half later, Spencer was sitting at Dr. Reynold's office. She was sitting nervously in the examination room as Dr. Reynolds asked her questions. This was very different from her normal appointments and it was entirely uncomfortable.

Dr. Reynolds was looking through Spencer's medical history. "After you had your first child, you got a pelvic infection. Is that right?" Dr. Reynolds asked.

Spencer tried to remember back that far. Finally, she said, "Yes. I think so."

"It's likely that the infection is what caused the scarring of your uterine lining. You have Asherman's syndrome, Spencer," she said. "It's not anything concerning, but…it does making conceiving difficult and it makes frequent miscarriages a definite possibility. It looks like the scarring just worsened with each subsequent pregnancy and miscarriage." Dr. Reynolds sighed and sat down next to Spencer. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but with the amount of scarring on your uterus right now…the chances of you carrying a child to term are slim."

Spencer couldn't find anything else to say. "Is it dangerous for me to try?" she asked.

"No, but…Spencer, I don't want you endangering your mental health to conceive."

Spencer bit her lip. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, there is a surgery. It's not a very invasive surgery. Basically, we can remove the scar tissue from your uterus and we can do it somewhat easily, depending on how thick the scar tissue is. The recovery time for this surgery is not very long and I've had patients who haven't even needed pain medication for this surgery," Dr. Reynolds said.

Spencer's eyes lit up. "So there's hope."

Dr. Reynolds was silent for a few moments. "Well…there is, but the surgery is not always effective. The problem with Asherman's syndrome is that the scar tissue can come back even after the surgery. There are a few things that we could do to try to prevent the endometrium from scarring again, but I can't guarantee anything, Spencer."

"So…this surgery," Spencer began, "is it very serious? Do you recommend it?"

Dr. Reynolds sighed. "I think maybe I'll have to take a closer look to see just how much scarring there is and based off of that, we'll see. It's something to consider, especially since the surgery isn't dangerous," Dr. Reynolds said. "And after that, I'd probably have to prescribe an estrogen pill to keep the scar tissue to a minimum. Let's look, why don't we?"

Spencer lay back uncomfortably on the chair as the doctor prepared to examine her.

* * *

Toby walked in the house later that day to find Spencer reading at the kitchen counter with a glass of lemon water and pretzels at her fingertips. She quickly looked up from her book when he walked in. "Hey," she greeted before looking back down at her book.

"Hey," he responded as he took a look at the mail. About three things were for him and there was one for Spencer. He was amused when he saw a white envelope someone had handwritten in script. "This must've been brought to the wrong house. I don't think I know a 'Spencer Hastings' who lives here," he said with a small smile.

Spencer put down the book and smiled as she took the envelope out of her hand. "I think I knew her once. She'd want me to read it," she responded. She was a little curious who could possibly be trying to reach her that didn't know about her marriage. Was there some college friend who had news to share with her? Was there some long lost high school friend? The envelope didn't have a return address on it. She tore it open quickly and took out a folded letter. When she opened it and began to read, she became a bit confused.

_Spencer,_

_Hi. I know you don't know who I am. I only vaguely know who you are, and it's mostly only because I've Googled you a lot ever since I found out. I know you're friends with my brother, Jason—well, our brother—and I guess I'm talking to you because I didn't have the courage to talk to him. I haven't spoken to him in a few years and I'm afraid that he's angry with me for not talking. I've just been going through some weird things and I guess I wanted to make sure he was alright. I've been worried about him and wondering about him, but I've heard he's been doing well for himself. I heard he even got married. _

_Sometimes, I regret being gone for so long. I know you can't answer this letter since I haven't enclosed a return address, but if we ever do get the chance to meet, what is he like now? Who did he marry? What is she like? What have I missed? Please don't tell him that I've contacted you. Sometimes Jason gets…angry and I don't want him to be angry with me. I really do love him as my brother, but sometimes I need space. Like now. I think I've given myself so much space that I'll go into shock if I get too close. Then again, you're probably in shock as you read this. Did you know you had a half-sister? I didn't until recently. _

_Sincerely, _

_Alison DiLaurentis_

_P.S. Don't bother looking for me, as I've already changed my name. God, does it feel weird to use my actual name again._

Spencer honestly didn't know what to make of the letter after she finished reading it. Toby caught onto her confused look. "What's that?"

Spencer held the letter close to her. "It's a letter from my half-sister, Alison," she said, apparently in a daze.

Toby looked shocked. "Alison as in Jason's sister, Alison?"

Spencer nodded. She handed the letter to him. Toby took a few moments to read the letter and when he was done, he was speechless. Spencer spoke up. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Do I tell Jason about the letter, even though Alison asked me not to? Do I keep it from him? Do I just act like this letter never happened?"

Toby didn't have an answer. He just put the letter back on the counter. Spencer sighed.

* * *

Spencer was sitting in the kitchen with Hanna a few weeks later. They were discussing ideas for the menu. Well, Spencer was looking over ideas. Hanna was rummaging through the freezer looking for some ice cream.

"What is a praline and who would eat that kind of ice cream?" Hanna asked as she held up the half-eaten pint of praline ice cream Spencer once craved when she was pregnant. Spencer just laughed as Hanna looked through again. Finally, she uncovered some chocolate peanut butter ice cream and took out two spoons. She sat back down next to Spencer. She held out a spoon for her. "You could use some sugar." Spencer smiled at her. Hanna opened the ice cream and quickly took a spoonful—or tried to, as it was hard as a rock. Finally, she gave up. "Okay, we can get to that later." She took a deep breath before looking at the list Spencer came up with. "So what did you come up with?"

"Well, you said you wanted to focus on little small pastries and cakes and stuff, right?"

Hanna nodded. "I thought we would go for something that manages to be cute and somehow trendy at the same time. I was thinking that cupcakes and cake pops would be our main thing. Or is that a bad idea?"

"No, I actually think it's a really great idea!" Spencer responded. "So what I thought up of was that we could have a lot of different flavors of cupcakes and cake pops and these are the flavors I came up with. Everyone always loves your really dark chocolate cake. It would practically be a mistake not to include that. Then, I have white cake, vanilla bean, red velvet, chocolate chip, peanut butter, and a few others."

Hanna nodded. "Speaking of peanut butter," she began as she tried the ice cream again. It wasn't a whole lot easier to scoop out, but she struggled with it anyway. Spencer laughed at her before trying to get some. She managed to get a spoonful. She reached out for an orange vial of pills and took one out.

"So how did the surgery go? Are you in pain?" Hanna asked as she looked at Spencer a bit cautiously.

Spencer nodded. "Honestly, I was never in a lot of pain to begin with. It's a really weird surgery. Basically, they use like a little pair of scissors to cut through the scar tissue on your uterus—"

"Spence, I'm eating," Hanna reminded her. "I'm glad it went well, though," Hanna said with a smile. "So those are estrogen pills?"

Spencer nodded. "The doctor told me to take one every day and I've taken them almost consistently at 12:30 every day."

"And how is your cold, you problematic person?" Hanna asked.

Spencer sniffled in response. A few days ago, she began to feel under the weather. It wasn't anything more than the common cold, but she felt miserable. She went to her regular doctor, who prescribed antibiotics. Spencer thought they were chalky and disgusting and they made her stomach hurt if she didn't eat enough food with it. "It's better, aside from the congestion."

Hanna smiled. "And how is Toby?"

"Any more questions, Han?" Spencer asked with a little smile. Hanna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "He's really great and we're really great."

"So you guys are sleeping in the same bed again? You guys are doing it again?" Hanna inquired with a devious little smile.

Spencer couldn't help but redden slightly. "Not that it's any of your business, but…yes to both," she responded. Hanna smiled. "It's weird, but I almost sort of feel like these last few months never even happened about seventy percent of the time and the other thirty percent…I just think of how much it's helped us in the first place. We aren't perfect, but I feel like we're stronger than we were before."

"So do you know what you're doing for your birthday yet?" Hanna asked curiously. "You're going to be thirty-two!"

"And you just turned thirty-two!" Spencer responded.

"Yeah, but I just wanted a quiet night in with Caleb. What are you doing?"

Spencer shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we'll have people over," Spencer responded.

"I'll call Natalie. Don't you remember how amazing the dinner she threw for me was?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, but…don't force it on her, Hanna. We could force Toby—"

"He knows how to cook breakfast and that's basically it. I mean, he's okay, but Natalie is amazing. And Natalie's empanadas are to die for…"

* * *

Toby came home a little later than usual one day. It was a very long day and not a very good one. He was glad to be going home to Spencer and just wanted to spend some time with her. When he walked in through the door, she was standing in the kitchen, cooking, as usual. He thought she barely even heard him walk in, as she didn't greet him or say anything to him. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Clearly, she was a little frightened at first, but she then relaxed. After a few moments of lingering there, Toby stepped away from her. He watched her in silence for a few moments.

"Do you remember when I had that cold a few weeks ago?" Spencer asked as she chopped vegetables. Toby nodded as he stole a carrot and leaned on the counter. " I was feeling better only a few days after I got the cold, but what my doctor didn't tell me is that the antibiotics would cancel out my birth control," she said slowly.

Toby was silent for a few moments. "So what you're trying to say is that you're pregnant again?"

Spencer bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she responded meekly as she looked up for the first time.

He shook his head. "It's not your fault, Spencer. It's mine, too."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who's not going to be able to carry this baby to term!" she argued. She tried taking a deep breath. "I'm the one who's going to screw this up!" He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her small frame. She felt like crying, but she was honestly so sick of feeling tears that she just couldn't. She bit her lip. She felt him press his lips on the side of her neck. It wasn't sensual at all. It was tender more than anything else.

He didn't want to jinx it, but in all honesty, he had a good feeling this time around.

"It's going to be okay," he mumbled into the back of her neck.

* * *

The next day was her birthday. Although it was supposed to be a happy day for Spencer, she couldn't help but feel a bit down due to the news she got yesterday. She just had a bad feeling. Still, she forced a smile and mirth throughout the day. She honestly couldn't wait for the party to be over so she could curl up in bed with Toby and Alex. It made her feel bad, especially since all her friends wanted to be with her on her birthday.

That's not to say that she was miserable throughout the party. Of course, she loved seeing Cassidy. Natalie's food was delicious. The cake Hanna made was amazing. It was a nice party, but this felt like one of those days she wanted to be alone.

Spencer sat in bed later that night with Alex in her arms. He was falling asleep. He looked like he was trying to force his eyes to remain open and she couldn't help but laugh. Toby sat beside them.

"Whatever happens, we'll always have Alex," Spencer said as Alex tried to suppress a yawn and failed miserably. Toby nodded in agreement. Spencer rested her head on his shoulder.

She was beginning to realize that no matter what happened, she had a family and they were all that really mattered.

* * *

_Before I go on with responses, the answer to your question of "Why can't you let them/me be happy?" is because I'm a mean person and I like watching my characters suffer. I'm not even joking. I love it when my favorite characters are sad. It makes them so much more interesting. _

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I really appreciate it! Thank you. I feel like as a whole, this story has been a lot happier than all of my other stories so I just wanted a period of some really sad chapters. I'm a little weird like that. Thank you so much for the feedback. _

**_Guest:_**_ Okay, I'm pretty sure this is only her second miscarriage (and if she's had more than one miscarriage before the one in the last chapter, sue me, because I was only supposed to put two). I don't count Brandon as a miscarriage or even really a stillbirth because he was alive for some time. He was...I don't exactly know what I'd use to describe him, but not either of those terms. They will be happy in the end. You just have to be a little patient. I'm not that mean. I'm very mean but I'm not Satan. I promise. _

**_Kathryn2014: _**_I'm mean. I wish I had a better answer but ngl that's it. Hope you liked it anyway :)_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I promise I have a plan. I always have a plan (sometimes a poorly executed plan) but I ALWAYS have a plan. _

**_percabethFangirl4eva: _**_Thank you very much! I will hopefully be done with this story by the end of my school year or around then, so hopefully you'll get some decent updates :)_

**_Guest:_**_ I will write another Spoby fanfiction! I think the next one I'll be writing is sort of like the movie Safe Haven (but then again, I don't know, considering I've never seen that movie and I really barely know anything like that), but I do want to give you a little bit of information about it without giving too much away. And I'm also thinking of another fanfiction that's not explicitly Spencer and Toby, but they're in it. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this!_

**_Summer1223: _**_To answer your question simply, reasons. I hope it all made a little more sense now that you know why she has difficulty carrying a child to term. It's not just that she keeps losing children for no reason. I hope you sort of enjoyed it. _

**_Sarah:_**_ I LOVE YOU TOO :)_

_Thank you guys for reading and reviewing even though I'm an awful person. _

_Also, I'm laughing because my friend seems to think that all fanfiction is like 50 Shades of Grey. When she found out that I write fanfiction, she looked at me like I had three heads. It was actually kind of funny. _

_And I just thought I'd warn you that after the next chapter, there's another time jump of a couple of months (I don't want to give exacts because I'm not entirely sure of it. I think chapter 43 takes place about five months after chapter 42). I hope you kind of liked it! We know how Spencer feels about hope, but it's alright to feel cautiously optimistic. **-Kayson**_


	43. Chapter 42

_**Author's Note:**_ _Remember that the small time jump takes place after this chapter! (Also, there's a bit of time-jumping in this chapter.)_

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Two**

Spencer picked out the prettiest red dress she had in her closet for dinner that night. She was having dinner with Toby alone. Hanna offered to watch Alex—as Caleb was away in California, visiting his mother, Spencer and Toby both figured she wanted some company. Honestly, though they loved Alex and Spencer normally wanted to spend just about every second with him, they were glad to be together alone.

Spencer took great care in setting everything up perfectly. Though things were admittedly going very well between her and Toby, she still felt like she was walking on eggshells. She wanted it all to be perfect—just like she always wanted everything to be perfect.

Toby said he would pick up dinner, so Spencer sat and obsessively waited for him to come home. She tried to busy herself with Missy, Mowgli, and Pandora, but they quickly got bored of her (well, Missy didn't, but Pandora kept nudging her until she went off to play with the cats). She let her OCD get the better of her and began to obsess over everything on the table.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when Toby finally came through the door with dinner in hand. He greeted her and kissed her on the temple. "Do anything interesting today?" he asked.

If looks could kill, he'd be dead. "I've been sitting around for the last hour and a half arranging and rearranging the table," she responded. She couldn't wait until the bakery was up and running. She and Hanna still had a lot to do—they'd just finished painting the inside (well, Hanna and Caleb did most of the painting since Hanna forbade Spencer from stepping foot inside with the wet paint; she was worried it would hurt the fetus or something obscure like that) and now they were just getting most of the display cases and things like that installed—but it would be ready to open in just a few months.

Toby couldn't help but laugh. "How were you today?" he asked. Spencer's morning sickness had been absolutely awful lately and that morning was the first one which Spencer hadn't been awakened by the overwhelming sensation of nausea.

Spencer shrugged. "Not bad, aside from the vomiting," she responded with a little shrug as she took the food from his hand and put it on the table. She smiled when she saw that he had gotten Thai food—it was exactly what she'd been craving.

He winced in response. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She sighed. "You know, it would be more concerning if I weren't throwing up this much," she responded as she began unpacking the food. "At least it means I still have the baby. . ."

"Hey," he interrupted. "I have hope for this one. Don't you?"

Spencer took a deep breath. "I just. . .I don't have a very good outlook on hope. It breeds eternal misery," she replied in a somber tone.

"Aren't you the optimist," he commented sarcastically.

"I'm just a pragmatist," she answered with a shrug. She changed the subject. "I'm surprised you didn't bring me the entire flower shop," she said as she realized he hadn't brought flowers like he normally did.

"You told me not to!"

Spencer laughed in memory. "You're right—I did. Mowgli knocked over the flower vase the last time you brought them. I think there's something about him and the color red," she said as she laughed, thinking of the time Mowgli had ruined a bouquet of red roses Toby brought her a week or so ago.

"Where are they?" he asked. He was surprised he hadn't been greeted by two cats or attacked by a growing puppy.

"I put Missy outside in the yard and I'm guessing Mowgli and Pandora are upstairs," she answered. "You know them; they're probably playing hide and seek in a pile of our dirty laundry."

* * *

"Roses are red and violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and I love you," Toby said later as they lay down on the couch after dinner. He was playing with her hands.

She couldn't help but laugh. "That is such a lame cliché," she said.

He faked being offended. "Oh, yeah? I'd like to see you come up with a better one."

Spencer accepted the challenge. She bit her lip as she tried to think of something. "Roses are red and various other colors, violets are violet if we're being specific. I believe it was this attention to detail that made you fall in love with me," she said.

"You're the biggest nerd I've ever met and I love you," he said as he pulled her even closer to her.

"Me?" she responded indignantly. "You're the one who goes through the newspaper every day just to find Sudoku!" she protested.

"You're the one who actually reads the newspaper!" he retorted. "And you do all the crossword puzzles. _In ink_."

"That just means I'm good at crossword puzzles!" she answered. "And me being interested in what's going on in the world around me does not make me a nerd."

"It kind of does, though," he responded.

She sighed dramatically. He just laughed at her. Although she hated losing fights—or maybe she really hated _not winning_ them—Toby was just about the only person she didn't mind losing to. "I hate that I love you sometimes."

He smiled. "Spence? That's the first time you inadvertently said you love me in a while," he responded with a small smile.

Spencer, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel a bit sad. "I know." He instantly started feeling a bit worried when she pulled away from him. "I feel like I don't say it enough and I've been awful recently—"

"You have every right to be sad."

"I know, but I pulled myself away from you when I should have just—"

Toby shook his head, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Are you forgetting I'm the one who camped out in my office?" he interrupted. "I was just as bad as you were, if not worse."

Spencer sighed. He was right. "I want us to make each other a promise that we're not going to leave if something happens," she said as she unconsciously put a hand on her small stomach.

"I won't," he assured her as he put his own hand over her stomach. She smiled.

* * *

In late May, Hanna and Spencer were almost ready for the opening of the bakery. Hanna was more excited than anyone else. It was like her little dream come true.

"This place will be open in a few weeks!" Hanna exclaimed as she looked around the bakery. Pretty much everything was in place. Hanna and Spencer were still waiting on some tables and chairs for the outside of the bakery and they were waiting for the last of their many permits. It would be open right in time for summer.

"I have to say, you did an amazing job on this place," Spencer said as she looked around in awe again.

"I couldn't have done it without you!" Hanna insisted. "You're helping me with the baking, right?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you trust me with that?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "You might not be just as good as I am at baking, but you're a damn good baker, Spencer," she assured Spencer.

Spencer shrugged as she continued to look around.

"How is my niece and/or nephew?" she asked as she looked at Spencer's stomach, which was still small but now had a slightly visible bump.

Spencer laughed. "Could you imagine me pregnant with twins?" she asked. "Good—for now, at least," she added a bit cynically.

Hanna was not amused. "Spencer."

Spencer sighed. "I can't help but be a little cynical about things, Hanna," she said as she looked down at the tile floor.

"Yeah, but try not to get too cynical on me," Hanna responded with a hint of concern on her face.

* * *

About a month later, Spencer was still being woken up by awful vomiting. It had become so routine that she sometimes forgot that it was linked with her pregnancy; she'd sometimes slipped up and begun to go get a wine glass before she was reminded by her slightly protruding stomach that she couldn't have alcohol.

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl? Do you want to find out?" Toby would ask her every now and then.

Spencer would sigh. "Maybe it's a little too premature to be thinking of stuff like that," she'd respond cynically.

"Spencer, you're already nearly four months pregnant," he would respond.

"Man makes plans and God laughs," she would say. It was always a bit ironic to him, considering she barely ever spoke about God and they were not very religious people. Still, he never really said anything, until one day.

"You know, you've been saying that a lot," he said. He said it in a tone that was careful not to provoke a fight but just as though he was stating a basic fact.

"You know how I feel about hope," she responded.

They were silent for a while as Spencer washed the dishes. When she was finally done, she looked up at him with a sigh. "Would you like to come with me to my next doctor's appointment?" she asked with a trace of annoyance in her voice.

"Depends. Do you actually _want _me there?"

Spencer gave him a look that said _Are you actually kidding me right now?_

"Okay," he responded as though he were doing _her _a favor. She actually wanted to slap him right then and there.

A few days later, they were sitting in the doctor's office. Toby saw this as any old appointment that would hopefully prove a point to Spencer: she had nothing to worry about at this point. Spencer, on the other hand, was almost positive that this would end up being a nightmare. She'd stayed up the previous night thinking out all the possible scenarios: the doctor could tell her it was just a hysterical pregnancy and that she was never really pregnant at all (despite the fact that she'd already seen real ultrasounds), or the doctor would be unable to find a heartbeat when she took the ultrasound. There were so many ways she thought this pregnancy could end, and in her mind, none of them were good.

"Are you excited?" Dr. Reynolds inquired as she slipped on gloves.

"Yes," Toby answered eagerly at the same time Spencer answered, "No."

"Okay," Dr. Reynolds responded uneasily before she put the gel on Spencer's stomach. Spencer took a deep breath. "Spencer, relax." She wanted to add that everything would be alright, but with Spencer's previous track record, she was admittedly nervous that this pregnancy wouldn't end well.

However, it didn't take very long for her to find a heartbeat and for an image of the fetus to appear on the screen of the ultrasound.

"Well, it looks like your baby is doing just fine. Spencer, it's very likely that since you've carried your child this far that you'll carry him or her to term," Dr. Reynolds announced.

"Really?" Spencer felt like she let out a breath she'd been holding in for God-only-knew how long.

Dr. Reynolds nodded. "Since the problem was with your endometrium and the baby has already clearly made itself very comfortable in your uterus, I'd say that it's very unlikely anything will happen to this child."

Spencer felt like she could finally breathe.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I think s/he definitely is :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter. _

**_Ashley K: _**_I'm glad you like it! I hope you liked this chapter. _

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ Thanks! I love Spanna, too. I hope you liked the Spanna in this chapter, as well. _

**_michele:_**_ Thank you! This baby does make it and I promise you the ending is happy. Thanks for reading. _

**_sarah: _**_love you too, sarah._

_You can all thank Sarah for this chapter because her text messages reminded me to update. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry about the late updates. I've barely had any time to write lately. _


	44. Chapter 43

_**Author's Note:** Please forgive me with a kind of cute chapter :)_

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Three**

"That looks absolutely disgusting," Toby commented as he stared at Spencer's midnight snack with repulsion.

"Believe me, it tastes disgusting and I'm completely and utterly disappointed in myself," Spencer insisted as she picked up the spoon and put it back down again. She had made herself a sundae consisting of coffee ice cream (because she was desperately missing her real coffee), hot fudge, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate whipped cream (which was disgusting but somehow still addictive), and what looked like slices of oranges (peel and all). "I would've been cliché and had pickles and ice cream, but we didn't have any," she responded as she winced at her snack. The leftover ice cream had melted and it created a disgusting soup mixture.

Toby pulled it away from her slowly. "Are you craving anything else?"

Spencer looked down at her growing stomach before looking back up at him. "Not at the moment, but just wait until three in the morning and I'll practically be begging you to go get me a Big Mac," she said as she got up and walked over to the stairs. She yawned. She felt as though her symptoms during this pregnancy were about five times more noticeable than her last pregnancy. She had the weirdest and most erratic cravings. Along with that, she went from being extremely fatigued to inexplicably energetic or over-the-moon overjoyed to angry and bitter.

"This baby is going to be a girl. I can feel it," Spencer said as Toby walked up the stairs with her.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" he asked.

Spencer failed at suppressing another yawn. "I just have this gut feeling. And, plus, that would make a somewhat reasonable explanation as to why this pregnancy is so different from the first one," she said.

"Okay, I can tell that you're exhausted," he commented.

She was about to argue, but he was right; she was exhausted. She yawned as she slowly got into bed. She curled up next to him when they lay down in bed. "Are you excited to learn the sex of the baby?" Spencer inquired as she closed her eyes.

He nodded.

"Can you believe it's been almost four years since we've gotten married?" she asked sleepily. Truthfully, he couldn't. "Do you want anything?" she asked softly.

"What more could I possibly want? I already have everything I'd never need." He pulled her closer. She just smiled sleepily in response.

* * *

Hanna brushed away a lock of golden hair which had fallen out of her bun, leaving flecks of flour. The phone began to ring and Hanna sighed. "Can you please get that, Em?"

Emily obliged and answered the phone in a chipper tone. "Hello? How may I help you?"

Hanna heard the timer go off on her macaroons and she dashed over to the large oven to get them before they burned. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that they came out just perfectly. Three minutes later, she squeezed past the cute little girl Hanna hired from the nearby high school to work there. Her name was Mallory.

"That'll be $24. How would you like to pay?"

"Excuse me, Mallory," Hanna said as she tried to get past both Mallory and Emily to put the macaroons in the display case. Since it was right around the Jewish holidays, a bunch of people were coming in and ordering macaroons.

"Thank you! Have a nice day!" Mallory chirped as the customer walked out of the store with a light blue cake box and her young son. "Do you need help?" Mallory asked Hanna.

Hanna thought for a moment. She was hoping she could finally get Spencer's cake done . . .

"Oh! I have a birthday cake. Are you good at writing on cakes?" Hanna inquired hopefully. Mallory nodded eagerly. "Great! There's a cake with buttercream frosting in the fridge in the back. I think I left a post-it with exactly what the customer wanted written on the cake. He wanted it in green frosting. If you could—"

"Right on it!" Mallory quickly turned around and glided right past Emily to the back where the baking stuff and the cake fridge were. Hanna never really ceased to be amazed by how cheerful Mallory always was.

Emily got off the phone and showed Hanna another order. "Do you want me to file it or something?"

Hanna raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't you do something with that piece of paper?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. I take a piece of tape and stick it on the wall so I don't forget," Hanna said as though it were common practice as she took a piece of scotch tape and put it next to another order. "Can you look after the cash register for now? I still have to finish the cake before the party tonight."

Emily nodded. Hanna scurried back over to her unfrosted cake. "What color frosting do you think I should use?" she asked as she stared at the cake for a couple of seconds.

Emily looked at the cake for a couple of seconds. "Pink and blue," she said. "And while you're at it, why not yellow? Keep them guessing," she added with a smile. Hanna nodded in response.

A few minutes later, Mallory came over from the back. "Is this good?" she asked eagerly as she showed Hanna the cake in the blue box. Hanna peered into the box and smiled. It was like something she would have done herself. Mallory's handwriting was so pretty and neat. Hanna nodded. Mallory seemed to breathe a little sigh of relief. "It says on the box that the customer was going to come pick it up at five." Mallory looked down at her watch, which said it was already five after.

"Okay. Emily's got the cake, right Em?"

Emily broke out of her chocolate chip cookie-induced trance to look at the both of them. "Right," she responded, not even knowing what she'd agreed to.

"There's no more baking to do, so if you could help by starting to clean up, that would be great." Mallory nodded as she turned to walk away. Hanna glanced up at the clock. Five after five. They were closing at six. Spencer and Toby's anniversary party was at seven. "You know what, Mallory? You can just go now if you want to. You deserve it. Plus, I don't think it's going to be a rough crowd," Hanna said.

"Are you sure?"

Hanna nodded. "Go. I'm sure you've got friends or a new episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians that you have to watch, anyway," she responded with a smile.

"Thanks, Mrs. Rivers!" Mallory said as she went into the back and took off her black apron. "I'll see you tomorrow!" she chirped before exiting through the back door.

"She's sweet," Emily said as she went back to eyeing the cookies.

"You can steal one if you want," Hanna announced as she carefully iced the cake blue. She didn't even need to look back at Emily to know she was ogling the sweets. Emily bit her lip as she debated it before a customer came in to pick up the cake. Soon after she charged them for the cake and said a polite goodbye and thank you to them, Emily went back to the cookies. "Just eat a damn cookie. Oh, my God," Hanna said as she turned around and grabbed one of the little sugar cookies. She took a bite. "You're not going to gain five pounds."

Emily glared at Hanna for a moment before finally taking one of the chocolate chip cookies.

* * *

"It's so pretty," Spencer commented as Hanna showed her the cake. It was blue frosted with pink flowers and yellow leaves on it. "What kind?"

Hanna looked at Spencer suspiciously. "Nice try, Spencer, but I'm not giving that up."

Spencer pouted as Hanna put the box on the cake dish. "Can I help with anything?"

Spencer thought for a moment. "You can help me set the table," she decided finally as she opened the drawer with all her silverware.

"How many people are we?"

"Eleven, but nine for dinner, not counting Alex; he's not eating with us. I already finished feeding him like fifteen minutes ago because he's been really tired lately. I think maybe he's getting a cold or something," Spencer said as she counted out silverware. "I'm going to go check up on him, okay?"

Hanna nodded. She had put down about four places when the doorbell rang. She walked over to answer it to reveal Aria with Cassidy.

"Hi, Auntie Hanna!" Cassidy chirped.

"Hey, Cassidy!" Hanna replied eagerly.

"Hey," Aria said as she followed her daughter into the house.

"Hey!" Aria sighed as she took off her own jacket and Cassidy shrugged hers off. Aria took her own coat and Cassidy's and placed it on the coat rack.

It didn't take long for Cassidy to run off calling, "Missy! Mowgli! Pandora!"

Cassidy ran away. Hanna walked with Aria back into the kitchen. "Let me show you the cake that I made for Spencer," she said as she walked over to the cake platter and showed Aria the box.

"That looks amazing. What kind is it?" Aria asked.

Hanna opened her mouth to answer before she noticed Spencer standing in the doorway. "Nice try, Spence." Aria turned around as a defeated Spencer walked in. "It's a surprise. This cake reveals the baby's gender."

Aria looked at the cake again. "I see you've outdone my box of balloons."

Hanna just smiled. "But you and Jason are completely welcome to set up the nursery. That's actually really hard work."

"I'll consider it," Aria said. After some silence, she asked, "Where are Natalie and Emily?"

"Probably playing Monopoly as we speak," Hanna joked with a little eye roll.

Spencer crossed her arms at Hanna's insinuation. "Natalie is still working and Emily is on her way."

"What happened to Tiffany and Shane?" Hanna asked as she noticed the absence of someone else.

"Oh, Tiffany's sister is getting married so they went to the wedding and can't make it," Spencer responded as she took a sip of her seltzer, which was sitting on the counter. "It's the nine of us for dinner."

"I thought you said eleven," Hanna said.

"Ten and eleven are coming for dessert. Melissa and Pamela. I invited them to dinner, but Melissa really wanted to have dinner alone with Pamela to talk to her. I think she's starting to get pretty serious with this boyfriend of hers and that's what this is about, but I don't know. Either way, I'm happy for her.

The girls settled into more small talk.

* * *

Hanna wouldn't stop fidgeting the entire dinner. She was really excited to see Spencer and Toby's reaction to the sex of their baby. She was the only one (besides Dr. Reynolds) who knew at this point.

"Are you done yet?" she asked Caleb, who was laughing to a story Natalie was telling.

"Are you okay, Hanna?" Caleb inquired. "You've been antsy this whole time. And you barely made a dent in your food." Toby had actually cooked dinner that night—and he really wasn't all that bad at cooking, although Spencer was better—and he had (unintentionally) made Hanna's favorite.

"Hanna, I'm beginning to think you're more excited about the cake than we are," Spencer joked.

"Sorry. I'm just excited to see your reaction," Hanna said as she went back to fidgeting silently.

The group continued talking and trading stories for about fifteen minutes before Spencer finally said, "Okay, I think that if we don't have this cake right now, Hanna's going to have an aneurysm." Spencer began to get plates and Emily rose to help her. Everyone began to help out.

Spencer paused in front of the coffee machine. "Spencer, let me make it." She looked over at Toby. "Don't torture yourself with it," he teased. "Didn't you already have your cup for the day?" he asked.

"No!" she responded quickly. ". . .Yes," she admitted finally.

"Besides, if you make the coffee, everyone else is going to have the shakes," he added. Spencer pouted and turned away. Emily was washing dishes with Natalie. Spencer decided to get the plates for dessert. Hanna made a beeline for the cake dish and took it carefully out of the box.

"It's very pretty, Hanna," Spencer commented as she looked at it.

"Don't get any ideas," Hanna answered as she stared at her cake. "And thanks."

Hanna walked away and Spencer reached out to touch the cake. She dipped her finger into the frosting, hoping she could get far enough to see what kind of cake it was.

"Hey!" Aria shouted as she walked back into the room with Cassidy. "You heard what the sheriff said! No peeking," Aria reminded Spencer. Spencer sighed.

Everyone met up again a few minutes later. Spencer was very relieved. "_Now _can I finally see what the cake is?" she asked. Hanna handed her the knife. Toby stood next to her. She eagerly but carefully cut a small slice. They both peeked and everyone else tried to get a look but they couldn't. Hanna could barely contain her excitement. "It's a girl," Spencer announced as she put a slice of pink velvet cake on a plate.

"So I guess you were right," Toby concluded.

"I'm always right," Spencer said with a small shrug. "Aren't you excited? It's a girl—just like you wanted."

"I would have been happy if it were a boy, too," he responded. "But I'm really happy she's a girl."

"Okay, okay, okay, you guys can save your celebration for later," Aria teased. "Spencer, can I talk to you for a second?"

Spencer nodded. Toby was handing out pieces of cake. "Do you want some cake? Then we can talk out on the porch," she responded. Aria reluctantly took a piece of cake and then followed Spencer out onto the porch. "What's going on, Aria?"

Aria sighed. "Everyone else already knows, so I don't know why I feel nervous about telling you." Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. This didn't sound good. "So now that Cassidy is getting older and she's started going to school, she needs me a lot less and I guess I'm just a little lonely being at home for most of the day. I decided that I want to go back to school and figure out what I want to do. I think I want to become a teacher. I don't know exactly what kind yet, but I've been thinking about an art teacher or an English teacher," she said.

"Aria, that's great!" Spencer exclaimed. "I'm excited for you! How do Jason and Cassidy feel about it?"

Aria blanched slightly. "Cassidy thinks it's weird that we're going to school at the same time, and Jason . . . well, Jason's glad that I'm getting out of the house and enjoying myself for once." Spencer waited for more, but Aria abruptly said, "We're being rude. We should probably go back in now."

Spencer watched as Aria walked back in the house. Something was very strange about Aria. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she needed to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

_So trouble is brewing and I'm back to my old ways (problematic writer)._

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I've decided to not be an awful person this time around and let my characters be happy. Except for Aria. I like torturing Aria. I hope you enjoyed it (if you are still reading this). _

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter._

**_ayzxrazy: _**_Thank you and oh my God, I am so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. If you are still reading this, I hope you liked this chapter. _

_As for an explanation, I have been EXTREMELY busy with schoolwork these last few weeks (like barely able to breathe kind of busy) and when I FINALLY was able to sit down to write something, I could not think of a single thing to write. And you know whenever I tried to write on Saturday night I HAD to fall asleep in front of the computer. Trifecta. _

_The end is near, in case anyone was curious. If I'm not mistaken, there are seven chapters left and the epilogue. Also, I'll tease the next chapter a little bit: a character I never, ever imagined I'd ever add to my stories is in the next chapter. I've probably mentioned them a couple of times in one-shots, but if I'm not mistaken, I don't think I've mentioned them at all in my multi-chapter stories. Also, some of you might hate me after I introduce the conflict in the next chapter. Oops. Plz don't hate me too much. **-Kayson**_


	45. Chapter 44

_**Author's Note:** So...there's quite a bit of drama in this chapter. Just warning you. _

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Four**

"I really can't wait to have this baby," Spencer said dramatically as she flipped through pages of a magazine quickly. Hanna was sitting opposite her. It was like the two of them had switched roles and the normally-garrulous Hanna was completely silent. "What's wrong, Han?"

Hanna hesitated for a moment before she snapped into the conversation. "I've just been thinking . . ."

Spencer arched an eyebrow as she threw the magazine away. "Talk."

Hanna sighed. "I don't know what's been going on with me lately, but every time I see you, I get a little jealous. You're going to have another little baby in your arms in a few months," she explained. "I want a kid, but I don't want a kid."

"Why don't you want a kid?" Spencer asked with piqued curiosity.

Hanna sighed. "I'm just afraid I'm going to mess it up. Or I'm not going to be a good mom—"

"Hanna," Spencer interrupted, "don't be ridiculous. You'd be an amazing mom."

Hanna shook her head. "I'm irresponsible and I care too much about my hair and my shoes and my clothes . . . and we just started a business together, Spence. And I know you're not going to be there as much with the arrival of the new baby—"

"Hanna, slow down," Spencer insisted as she grabbed Hanna's hands. "I'm still going to be there. I know it must seem like I'm not doing that much, but I promise you, as soon as the doctor tells me I can work again, I'm going to work. I may not be at the bakery as much because of Alex and the baby, but I'm still going to help you manage everything." Hanna tried to take a deep breath. Spencer, her motherly instincts beginning to kick in, took Hanna by the chin to get her to focus. "And Hanna? You're not any of those things. After from Aria and Melissa—who, by the way, have kids of their own already—you're the person I'd trust Alex with because I know you'd never do anything irrational or irresponsible. And you are so much more than a pretty face, Hanna. I know that and so does everyone else," Spencer insisted.

Hanna smiled slightly at her before pulling her in for a hug. "I love you," she murmured into Spencer's shoulder.

"I love you, too," Spencer responded.

* * *

Aria stood before the mirror in the hallway and fixed her makeup in the mirror. She rouged her lips with dark red lipstick. "Thank you so much for watching Cassidy and I'm really sorry that I had to ditch our plans last-minute," Aria responded.

"It's fine," Spencer lied. She really wanted to find out what was going on with Aria; she was acting so strange lately. "Where are you going? You look pretty dressed-up."

Aria looked over her shoulder at Spencer as she put her lipstick in her bag. "What? I can't just dress up because I want to?"

That wasn't the answer Spencer expected from Aria. She raised her hands in defense. "Sorry. I just don't remember you ever getting this dressed up to just meet someone for coffee." Once she said it, Spencer became a bit alarmed. "Wait a minute. _Who_, exactly, is this person you're meeting for coffee?" It was particularly concerning considering nearly all of Aria's friends (save one or two from college) were also Spencer's friends.

"It's just a guy from my literature class," Aria responded dismissively. "He's just helping me with some of the allegories in the book we're reading. I think I get it, but I just want to make sure." She looked at Spencer in the mirror before smiling. "Maybe I'll go visit Jason before I get back." That soothed Spencer, but only a little bit. Aria turned away from the mirror and grabbed her purse. "Cassidy brought over some homework. If she gets stuck, could you do me a huge favor and help her out?" Before Spencer could respond, Aria was practically out of the door.

* * *

"The nursery is coming along really well," Spencer said as she spoke on the phone with her mother. "Thank you for the blankets. I must admit that they're very cute. I'm sure that when the nursery is finished, everything will look perfect." She heard the doorbell ring. "Sorry, Mom, but I have to go. I'll see you next week." Spencer hung up and went downstairs to answer the door. It was Aria. While she looked very cool, calm, and collected earlier, she now looked a bit worried and frazzled (though her makeup and her outfit were both entirely intact).

"Aria—"

"Where is Cassidy?"

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows at Aria's terseness. "She's playing with Alex in the living room—"

Aria breathed a sigh of relief. Spencer waited for an explanation. "Do you ever get these bad feelings, like something is about to go really wrong?"

"I guess?"

"Well, I had one of those."

Cassidy came running up to Spencer and Aria. "Mommy, I missed you."

"I wasn't gone for that long, Cass." Aria's normal dulcet voice had an undertone of annoyance in it. "Do you want to go home? I don't know if Daddy's going to be home for dinner."

"Why not?" Cassidy asked with a slight whine.

"He said he had a meeting tonight when I went to go see him," Aria said as she brushed back some of Cassidy's hair. "Thanks for watching her, Spence. I think I'm just going to bring her home now," Aria announced as she held Cassidy by the hand.

The scene was so odd that Spencer didn't even think to ask Aria how the coffee meeting went. She wondered if Aria and Jason got into a fight and this was what Aria was acting so strange about . . .

Spencer mused over this as she half-heartedly played with Alex. About an hour later, she heard keys jingle and the front door open. She looked up to see Toby walk in with Jason. They were speaking and didn't notice her presence at first.

"Hey, Spence," Jason said when they both noticed Spencer standing there with Alex.

"Hey," Spencer responded before Toby kissed her hello. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Usually Toby and I will go out for a drink on Fridays, but he wanted to come home to you," Jason responded.

Spencer smiled at her husband. After processing what Jason had said, she furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought you had a meeting today? With a client?"

"We had a meeting yesterday, Spence," Toby responded as he walked over to the fridge.

"Oh." She didn't say anything about what Aria had told her earlier. "Jason, are you staying for dinner?"

"As much as I'd like to, I'm sure Aria and Cassidy are going to be waiting," he responded before sitting down. Spencer smiled at him despite this feeling of dread.

* * *

Spencer went over Aria's house with Alex the next day. Aria claimed that she needed help with homework and Spencer would be able to help easily. While Spencer did help Aria with a few homework questions, the day consisted mainly of the two of them drinking tea (to Spencer's chagrin) and Aria smiling like a child whenever she got text messages. After five or six texts, Spencer asked, "Who is that? Is it Jason?"

Aria didn't answer for a moment. Finally, she snapped back into reality. "Oh, no. It's just a new friend from school," she responded before going back to her phone.

Spencer was admittedly uneasy about this answer. She noted the absence of jewelry on Aria's left ring finger. "Where's your wedding ring?"

Aria looked down at her hand. "At the jeweler's. I'm just getting it polished." Aria put her phone down and tried to get back to her homework. The two sat in silence before Aria's phone buzzed again. Before Aria could get it, Spencer grabbed it.

"Spencer! What the hell? Give me back my phone!"

Aria tried to grab it from Spencer's hand, but Spencer held it away from her. "Aria, you have about five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on," she said sternly. Aria just glared at her. Spencer then decided to look at Aria's phone. "Who is Ezra and why are you going to meet him for coffee tomorrow?" Spencer demanded.

Aria bit her lip like she'd just been caught red handed. She looked guilty.

"Aria!"

Aria took a deep breath. "He's my English professor," she explained.

"Your English professor?" Spencer inquired. She took a deep breath. "Aria, I don't know how lax Hollis is about relationships between students and professors, but what the hell are you doing? Does he know you're married?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Spencer, it's not like that!" Spencer pursed her lips in response. Clearly, she wasn't buying it. "Okay, so maybe it's a little bit like that. I'm not cheating on Jason, Spencer!"

"Aria, you can't just go and flirt with someone when you're married!" Spencer exclaimed. "And you _definitely _cannot just go and flirt with your English professor!"

Aria sighed in response. "Spencer, I'm not going to go do anything stupid." Spencer sat in silence for a few moments before grabbing her things. She picked Alex up and said goodbye to Cassidy quickly. "Spencer, where are you going?"

"To see my husband," Spencer replied sharply. "You know, like you said you did the other day, but that was a lie, too."

* * *

"Spencer?" Toby asked with surprise when she saw her standing in the doorway of his office. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Spencer took a deep breath. "Something really weird is happening and I needed your advice because you're probably the most rational person I know and something really strange is happening and I don't know what to do and—"

"Spencer," he interrupted. "Take a deep breath."

She obliged before sitting down in the chair across from him. "Okay, you're going to laugh when I tell you what happened, but . . . I really needed your help with this!" she exclaimed. He waited for more. "Don't laugh." He promised he wouldn't. "I think Aria is thinking about having an affair." Toby didn't say a word; he just looked very stunned and entirely speechless. Spencer cringed when she realized what she just did. "And I am really sorry for putting you in such an awkward position. I know Jason is one of your best friends . . ."

She trailed off and they were both silent for several seconds. "Who is he?" Toby asked finally.

"Her English professor," Spencer responded uneasily.

More silence.

The silence lasted for at least a minute before Toby said something surprising. "You can't tell Jason."

Spencer was taken aback by this. Toby was one of the most truthful people she had met and this felt like an outright _lie_. "What?"

"Spencer, I know he's your brother—and he's one of my best friends, too, so I want him to know—but you can't interfere with the two of them. Things are going to unfold the way they end up unfolding and we can't stop it."

Spencer shrunk just as she thought about it. "I just can't believe Aria would even think about doing something like this. I know she likes adventure and romance but—" Her brain seemed to stop mid-thought. "Oh my God. What about Cassidy?" she asked.

"Hopefully everything works out and Cassidy is fine."

Spencer felt nauseous. She put her hand on her stomach and Toby became worried. "Is something wrong, Spence?"

Spencer shook her head. "I'm going to be sick."

About a thousand questions later, Spencer assured him that it had nothing to do with her pregnancy and everything to do with the drama going on around her. Spencer promised that she would go home and try not to stress about it. After settling on plans with dinner, Spencer agreed she would take a warm bath as soon as she got home to relax.

"I promise, I'm going to be fine!" Spencer assured him as he walked her out to her car. "Now _you're _the one who needs to relax."

"I just get worried about you. You can get a little . . . well, you get _really _stressed when you get stressed," he explained. He placed his hands on her shoulders as she put Alex in the car.

"That feels great," she said as she exhaled happily.

"You're very tense."

"Are you just noticing that? You've known me for how long?"

"I know you're tense, Spence, but you're even tenser than usual today."

"We just had a whole conversation about this—"

"I know but . . . relax."

Spencer obliged and took a deep breath.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you! I hope you liked this one, too (a little more drama). I hope tonight's episode is good and not like the last one, which I was pretty let down by. Thanks for reviewing even though I'm awful at updating!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Thanks! I must confess, though, it's not my idea. I was watching this movie once and I saw it and I was like "wow, that is so cute." I think the movie was called Return to Zero, but I could be wrong. I'm not sure. Thanks for reviewing!_

_I'm so sorry about this slow update. I have just had absolutely no time to do anything (I was studying for finals and then I got like a ton of reading for the summer that I've been trying to do). I'm working on the next chapter already, so hopefully it'll be up within a week or two. Also, I'm going to writing camp next week and I'll have a lot of free time that I will probably either spend reading or writing. Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done there (and hopefully my work will get better)! Thank you anybody who is still reading this. **-Kayson**_


	46. Chapter 45

_**Author's Note:** I'm an awful, horrible person. _

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Five**

"Happy birthday!"

Aria walked in the door holding a present bigger than Cassidy while Cassidy practically skipped beside her. Aria put the big bag down as she looked at Alex and Spencer.

Alex smiled at Aria and Aria quickly took him in her arms. "Don't look so happy to see me, Spencer," Aria noted as she held Alex.

Spencer tried forcing a smile, but couldn't. She sighed. "Don't act like nothing's happening."

Aria raised an eyebrow innocently. "What are you talking about?" she asked before she put Alex down and he ran after Cassidy.

"You lying to me yesterday? You said you were going to see Jason."

"And he said he had a meeting," Aria responded.

"Really? Then how was he standing in my kitchen with Toby like half an hour after you left?" Aria's face changed, like she had been caught red-handed. She couldn't hide her obvious guilt. Spencer sighed. "Aria, why did you lie to me? What's going on?" she asked.

Aria stayed frozen. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Toby and Hanna walked in the room. "I am going to make her room look so amazing," Hanna promised. "How do you feel about butterflies? I could probably paint some butterflies on her wall. This is going to be so much fun!"

Toby just laughed at Hanna's eagerness. They both froze when they took note of Spencer and Aria and the tension between them. "Hey!" Hanna greeted as she tried to diffuse the awkwardness. "I didn't hear you get here. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Aria responded with a smile, as though nothing had ever happened. Spencer bit her lip, just about ready to scream.

Hanna turned to Toby with a look of confusion on her face. "Toby, let me help you with dinner."

Toby, on the other hand, was not quite as oblivious as Hanna. "Hanna, since when do you cook? Caleb said the only cooking you've ever done is dialing the Chinese place up the street."

"Well, I want to learn and you would probably be a good teacher."

After a moment of confused silence, Hanna dragged Toby into the kitchen. Spencer and Aria were alone again. Aria decided she'd help Spencer with setting the table, while giving Spencer the occasional cautious look. Spencer sighed. "Aria, can't you see that you're hurting Jason, and Cassidy, for that matter?"

"I'm not hurting anybody," Aria responded as she placed the plates carefully on the table. "Spencer, stop worrying so much. You're stressing out the baby."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Don't change the subject. We were talking about you and how you randomly decided to meet up with someone from class, looking like you were ready to go to a wedding or something."

"Since when is dressing up a crime?" Aria inquired in a tone of voice which was a lot sassier than Spencer was accustomed to hearing from her.

"Since you're married and you never dress up like that and you're dressing up for someone other than your husband."

"Yeah. Myself," Aria responded before she walked out of the room.

* * *

Spencer was at least able to forget about the drama when dessert was served. Alex was so happy when he saw the cake Hanna had made for him—and even happier when he tasted it. His smile was even brighter than the three little candles on his cake. She realized that was all that really mattered and all that _should _really matter.

Although she was rather annoyed with Aria, Aria had a point; this stress probably wasn't good for the baby, and if Toby knew how much she was really worrying about it, he'd certainly chastise her about it, too.

"Are you okay, Spence?" Toby asked as he picked up the wrapping from Alex's presents.

Spencer nodded a bit too eagerly before picking up a few of his toys.

"Are you sure?"

"Can we discuss this later?" Spencer asked with a sigh as she looked over at Hanna and Caleb, who were playing with Alex. He consented (reluctantly) before going back to cleaning up.

Spencer walked over to Hanna, Caleb, and Alex. "We have to start getting you ready for bed. It's almost bedtime," she said as she looked at the clock, which was at a quarter to seven. Alex pouted slightly but was obedient. He hugged Caleb and kissed Hanna goodnight before going with Spencer. "I'll be back down in a few minutes," Spencer said before taking Alex over to the stairs.

"Daddy coming?" Alex asked.

"Do you want him to come tuck you in?" she asked before looking over her shoulder at Toby, who was eavesdropping as he picked up multicolored tissue paper. Alex nodded. "He'll be up soon, then."

Alex insisted on climbing up the stairs himself—and honestly, Spencer wasn't all that upset about it, considering her large stomach made just about everything impossible or annoying. She sighed when she realized that she still had about two and a half months of this torture, and her stomach would probably get bigger still.

"Did you like your cake? You know Aunt Hanna made it for you, right?" Spencer asked Alex as she got him dressed to go to bed. It was a rhetorical question. He nodded eagerly. "Good. Let's go brush your teeth."

After Alex brushed his teeth and after Spencer washed the remnants of Hanna's cake off of his face, Spencer brought Alex back into the room to put him to sleep. "Daddy?"

Spencer opened her mouth to respond when the door opened and Toby walked in. She smiled. "I'll tuck him in, Spence."

Once Alex was safe in Toby's arms, Spencer kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight. Happy birthday," she said quietly before she slipped out of the room.

Toby carefully placed Alex down in his crib. "Did Mommy tell you you're going to be sleeping in a big boy bed soon?"

Alex shook his head.

"Mommy and I think that you're big enough that you can sleep in a big boy bed," he explained.

Alex smiled. "Keep toys?"

"Yes, you can keep all your toys."

In response, Alex brought his stuffed golden retriever close to his chest.

"Good night. Happy birthday," Toby said softly before leaving the room.

"'Night, Daddy."

* * *

Spencer walked downstairs and found Hanna alone. "Where did Caleb go?"

"He got a phone call from his mom. He's outside talking to her," Hanna responded. "Now that we're alone, can I ask what the hell has been going on between you and Aria all night?"

Spencer sighed as she sat near Hanna. "I can tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, at least, not yet." Hanna nodded in compliance. Spencer sighed. "So the other day, Aria asked me to watch Cassidy because she had to meet with someone from class to talk about an assignment or something. I said sure. When she came over, she was wearing this pretty dress and she had her makeup done perfectly and . . . it was weird."

Hanna shrugged. "I mean . . . maybe she wanted to look good that day. Maybe she was dressing up for Jason."

"That's what I thought, especially when she told me that she might stop by the office to see him that afternoon. When she came back, she told me she went to visit Jason but he had a meeting, but he showed up at my house a few minutes after she left."

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. "That's weird."

"When I first confronted her about it, she looked like she'd just been caught, and then you and Toby came into the room. When I confronted her about it again, she started getting kind of defensive and kept trying to change the subject. Plus, she admitted that she lied about it. She was going to meet her English professor, not some random person from class."

"Wait, what? How do you know that?"

"Because she got a text from him and I got to her phone before she could."

Hanna frowned. At that moment, Caleb reentered the room. "Is something wrong?" he asked once he took note of both of their worried expressions.

"Spencer's feeling kind of sick. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay, Spence?" Hanna lied after a moment of hesitation.

* * *

Hanna had a hard time falling asleep that night. Something was keeping her awake—and it wasn't the whole debacle with Aria and Jason. Caleb noticed something was bothering her. "What's wrong? Does this have to do with Spencer?"

It was silent in the darkness for a few moments. "I'm just confused about something."

"What is it?"

Hanna took a deep breath and she sat up;. "I want a baby, but . . . I'm scared," she confessed to him for the first time. "I mean . . . what if I just want a baby right now because Spencer is having a baby? What if I screw up being a mom and I'm an awful mom? What if something happens to the baby and I started blaming myself? I just feel like—"

"Hanna, breathe."

Hanna took a deep breath. "I don't know what I want." She realized that she had been talking a lot about herself, but not about how he felt. "What do you want?"

"I want . . . a family," Caleb responded decisively after thinking it over for a few moments. "I want a family with you." Hanna smiled slightly in response. "But Hanna, if you're not ready for that—"

"I think I am," she interrupted. "I mean . . . waiting around and just thinking about it isn't going to make me more ready for it," she decided. "Right?"

He shook his head no.

"And, I mean, we're not getting any younger—not that we're old, or anything, because thirty-two is _not _old. But I'd like to see my kid graduate high school before my hair turns completely grey," Hanna added. He couldn't help but laugh. She smiled. "What?"

"You are crazy and I love you," he explained before kissing her on the lips.

Hanna leaned her head on his shoulder. She was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Am I really that crazy?"

"A little. But it's alright. You're not bad crazy. Just a little . . . neurotic."

"Neurotic?" she asked with piqued interest. "About anything in particular?"

"Being good at everything. I thought that was Spencer's job, to worry about being the best."

Hanna shrugged. "Maybe she realized that being the best at everything was unimportant, after all this time."

"You don't have to be perfect at everything. You're going to make a really great mom."

"And you're going to make a really great dad."

He was silent for a few moments. "I feel like maybe I'm too . . . _chill _to be a dad."

Hanna laughed. "You're too _chill_?"

"I don't know; I guess I always saw myself as cool Uncle Caleb who lets everyone get away with everything," he replied.

"Hmm . . . if we have a daughter, I don't think you're going to be all that relaxed with her, especially when she gets older and she starts dating boys," Hanna teased.

"Don't even talk about boys."

"See?" Hanna asked with a laugh. "You're going to be fine. I think the worst part about you being a dad is that you seem like exactly the type of guy to tell lame dad jokes."

Caleb laughed. "Lame dad jokes? Hanna, all my jokes are hilarious."

"That's exactly what a guy who tells lame dad jokes would say."

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to mix drama with cuteness. I hope it worked. _

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!_

**_Guest:_**_ Aww, thank you! I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I keep saying that I hope I'll get better about it but I never actually do get better about updating, so I'm not going to say anything this time. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait :)_

**_Guest:_**_ Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!_

_I have no words for how awful I am. Okay. Bye. **-Kayson**_


	47. Chapter 46

_**Author's Note: **Unfortunately there are no weed gummies in this chapter. Sorry to disappoint. _

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Six**

Spencer brought the teapot over to the table and showed Melissa the several teas. "Do you have a black tea?" Melissa asked.

"English breakfast or earl grey?"

"Earl grey."

Spencer tore open the tea bag and placed it in Melissa's teacup before pouring some hot water. She frowned as she settled for an herbal tea—it had less caffeine, which was not satisfactory to her coffee addiction.

"Can't wait for that baby to come out, huh?" Melissa asked as she drank her tea.

"You have no idea. As soon as the doctor tells me I can drink coffee, I will." Spencer dropped her head on the table. Melissa's phone beeped and Spencer turned her head to look at her. "Is that Wren?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Spencer explained before she sat up. "How long have you been seeing him now?"

"Almost a year?" She texted him back and once she finished, she added, "You know, I'm not going to lie to you, it's kind of weird knowing you kind of saw him a while ago."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Melissa, it doesn't even matter now—"

"It's still weird."

"Has Pamela met Wren?" Spencer asked. "A year is kind of a long time to be seeing someone."

"Briefly and on accident, but I don't plan on introducing them until I know that this is something really serious."

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Are you looking for some sort of commitment?"

Melissa thought it over for a moment and sighed. "I don't know what I'm looking for, exactly. It's scary. I guess I'm just scared to let Pamela get too close. I mean, she's practically already lost her father. He's not really interested. He seemed like he was when we first had her, but now he's just . . . distant. He's there for her for the holidays and her birthday and everything, and I'm grateful for that, but . . . he's not there for her like a father should be."

"What if Wren isn't the father figure that you want for Pamela?"

Melissa's eyes flickered away. "I guess then I would have to say goodbye to him. Pamela's more important to me," Melissa responded. "It's not even a question." Spencer nodded. The two were silent. Spencer moved uncomfortably in her chair. Melissa took note and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. I can't even sit nowadays. Honestly, I can't wait for this baby to come out," Spencer announced. "All I do is sit around and occasionally someone will come over for a couple of hours but otherwise, I'm really bored for the entire day. And nobody will let me leave because they're scared I'm going to get bruised or something," Spencer huffed as she tried to find a comfortable position. "I can't believe I still have another month left of this."

"Was it this bad the last time you were pregnant?"

"No! I don't know what it is—if it's because this baby is a girl, or something—but this pregnancy is so much harder than the other ones have been." Spencer was quiet for a few moments. "Do you think maybe stress could have something to do with it?"

Melissa furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean, I guess. Is something wrong?"

Spencer took a deep breath. "Aria is acting weird and I shouldn't be stressed out over her problems, but Jason is my brother and she's one of my best friends, so naturally, I'm concerned about them."

"Wait, wait, what's happening between them?"

Spencer sighed. "Aria is sneaking around and I don't know if I should be worried."

"With who?"

"Her English professor? I don't even know anymore." Spencer dropped her head back down on the table again.

Melissa had to laugh at her. "You're in rare form today, Spencer."

"It's these pregnancy hormones."

"Have you spoken to Jason about this? Does he know?" Melissa asked after some silence.

"No."

The room was quiet. "I could talk to him about it," Melissa offered finally.

Spencer was quite surprised. "You? Since when do you talk to Jason?"

"I've actually been making more of an effort lately to talk to our brother. He's family, Spencer. I want to be a good sister and be there for him, especially if it turns out his wife is cheating on him."

Spencer groaned. Toby walked into the kitchen at that very moment. "Hey, Melissa. I didn't know you were coming over."

"I didn't even know you were here," Melissa said before taking a sip of tea. "Do you ever stop working?"

"No," Spencer responded. She turned to him. "Remind me, why were you working at home today?"

He shrugged. "I didn't have any meetings today so I can stay here," he explained. "Are you upset about that?"

"No, but I'd appreciate it a lot more if I actually got the chance to see you," Spencer responded with a slight pout.

He smiled as he walked over and made a cup of green tea. "I'm sorry, Spence." He kissed her on the cheek. "Forgive me?"

She sighed. "Fine." She kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Gross," Melissa commented. Spencer rolled her eyes. "If I were to get married again, I'd want my marriage to be as obnoxious and as disgusting as yours."

"Is there something you're trying to tell us, Melissa?" Toby teased.

"No, I will not be walking down the aisle any time soon; don't be ridiculous."

"That's code for she's thinking about it," Spencer explained.

Melissa narrowed her eyes at Spencer. "Well, as amusing as this whole situation sounds, I should probably get back to working so maybe I could finally help you cook dinner," Toby said as he took his tea with him to the staircase.

"You're the worst!" Melissa exclaimed.

"Love you, too!"

* * *

Spencer lay her head on Toby's shoulder later that night before they went to sleep. "Do you want to have sex?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" He didn't even attempt to contain his laughter.

"I'm so bored," she explained. "It's not funny. You're not the one who has to stay at home practically every second of every day with an extra twenty or so pounds sitting on your abdomen!"

He brushed back some of her hair. "It'll be over soon."

She sighed. "I feel stressed and I have nothing to be stressed about."

"Are you thinking about Aria and Jason?"

"No!" He gave her a knowing look. She sighed. "Maybe."

"Spencer, you shouldn't get so involved in this. Jason and Aria are two smart people who are going to be able to figure it out on their own. It's not worth getting stressed out over," he said.

"I know, but how can I when Aria is one of my best friends and Jason is my half-brother? So therefore, Aria's like my sister-in-law. I can't let Aria do something dumb like this." She groaned and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I don't know what to do . . ."

"Breathe." She took a deep breath. "Keep breathing. Stop worrying and thinking about Jason and Aria. Think about the baby and how she's almost here and how Alex is going to love his baby sister."

She sighed. "I've tried that before. It only works for so long."

"Okay, then try to clear your mind."

"It's impossible to stop thinking," Spencer responded.

He ignored her. He urged her to lie down so her head was resting on his chest. She settled comfortably in his arms. "Think about a beautiful white beach in nice, warm weather, like late spring or early summer. The water is crystal clear blue."

"Like the color of your eyes?" she asked as she closed her own.

"Yes."

She smiled as she pictured it. "Tell me more."

"You have a coffee in your hands." She laughed. "You're not pregnant anymore. You look beautiful. You have some great novel, like . . . like a Hemingway novel or Fitzgerald in your hand. But right now, you're just soaking up the moment, taking in the color of the water, the feeling of sand between your toes, the peace."

She sighed dreamily. "And where are you? Where are the kids?"

"They're with me. We're playing on the sand and giving you a moment," he explained as he absentmindedly ran a few fingers through her hair.

Her eyes fluttered open. "As nice as that sounds, I would be on the sand playing with the three of you. Wherever you are, I want to be."

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thanks. Hopefully you liked this chapter. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_I'm glad you liked it! Hopefully you liked this. _

_Well, this story ends in like five chapters. I have chapter 27 written already. If anybody's still reading this, reviews make me smile :) **-Kayson**_


	48. Chapter 47

_**Author's Note:** IT'S A MIRACLE! I'VE ACTUALLY UPDATED IN A TIMELY FASHION!_

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Seven**

"Can I get you a coffee or something?" Natalie asked as waited on the line at her favorite little coffee shop.

"No, thanks, Natalie," Hanna insisted. "I am trying to cut back on the caffeine. I've noticed lately that I'm becoming a little bit too much like Spencer on the coffee . . . you know, back when she wasn't pregnant. Plus, the stuff from that coffee shop is really strong."

Natalie placed her order before waiting for the barista to make it. "Okay, so we have a running bet on what we think Spencer and Toby are going to name the baby. Right now, Aria thinks Marion, Jason thinks Ava or Avery, Emily thinks something weird and cute like Emeline, and I think something like Emma or Victoria."

Hanna thought it over for a few seconds. "Sophia. Definitely. That's the name they're going to give her. Maybe Sophie . . . no, Sophia."

"Wow, you seem pretty confident on that one," Natalie replied, impressed.

"I know Spencer and I have this gut feeling that I know Toby. I can feel it in my bones," Hanna joked.

Natalie laughed as she got her drink and thanked the barista. She walked down and across the street to where she had parked her car. "I'm so glad there's a coffee place near this internship, because I would not be able to survive without—"

She was cut off by a very familiar laugh. Natalie furrowed her eyebrows. She looked over her shoulder and saw the back of a very familiar head. She walked back a few steps and inconspicuously took a glimpse at the face. It was Aria.

"Oh, shit! Hanna!"

"What happened?" Hanna asked.

Natalie took a few last looks before walking farther down the street. Then, she answered, "I just saw Aria at a restaurant with some random guy."

Hanna pressed her fingers to her forehead. "Ugh, fuck. That's the guy Spencer was telling me about."

"What?" Natalie asked as she got into her car. "Hanna, you've got five seconds to explain."

"Spencer was telling me the other day about how she caught Aria dressing up to go meet some guy from her English class, who turned out to be her professor. Was the guy at least cute?"

"I mean . . . I guess? He was cute in the puppy kind of way. He wasn't hot like Jason is."

Hanna groaned. "Aria's supposed to be the cutesy wife—the kind that's always faithful and everything and never even thinks about cheating," she said.

"Don't tell anyone," Natalie said after a moment of thinking.

"What? Why not?"

"Well, maybe Spencer, but don't tell anyone else. If Jason finds out about this, he should hear about it from Aria, not from anyone else."

"What makes you think that Aria is going to tell Jason?"

Natalie pursed her lips. "Please. Like you or Spencer is going to let her off the hook after this."

Hanna shrugged. "True."

Natalie sighed. "I have to go, but I meant what I said about not telling anybody. Hanna. Promise."

Hanna rolled her eyes and said reluctantly, "I promise."

* * *

"I can't believe you went and told literally _everyone_," Spencer said as she walked into the new nursery with Hanna trailing close behind.

"I did not! I told Caleb. He was like my one free pass. He doesn't count!" Hanna protested.

"And you told me and you told Toby—"

"Hey, Toby does not count. He walked in while we were talking about it and you can't just leave someone hanging like that and not explain the rest of the conversation."

"And now Jason knows."

"Because of Toby and Caleb! Not me!"

Spencer sighed as she folded some new baby clothes she had gotten. "You and your big mouth—"

"_I_ am not the reason that Jason knows! Besides, maybe he understands and he's not mad," Hanna responded with a shrug.

"He sounded kind of upset when I spoke to him today. He hadn't seen Aria yet but I kind of don't want to hear about it when they finally _do _see each other," Spencer said as she put some clothes in the dresser.

"Well, I'm sorry that Jason's upset, but it's not my fault." Hanna leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "Shouldn't you have told your husband not to tell him?"

"Shouldn't you have told _yours_? I'm pretty sure it was Caleb who told him when they went out for drinks last night." Spencer bent down to get some toys when she felt a sharp pain in her back. She stood up abruptly and winced in pain.

"Are you okay, Spence?"

Spencer shook Hanna off. "I think I'm fine. I think my back is kind of done with carrying an extra thirty pounds on my abdomen, though," she responded as she got the toys she had wanted originally. Just as she was getting the little stuffed kitten Melissa had given her, she cried out in pain. "Okay, I lied. I'm not fine."

"How bad is it?"

"Bad. Really bad."

And Hanna knew that was _really _bad, considering Spencer's usual tolerance for pain. "Do you think you're going into labor?"

"God, I hope not. I'm not due for almost another month." Hanna crouched down on the floor next to Spencer. "This doesn't really feel like labor, but . . . I'm not sure."

"I think I should bring you to the hospital anyway," Hanna said as she helped Spencer get up. "Are you going to be able to go down the stairs?"

"Yes, Han," Spencer responded with a slightly exasperated tone as she got down the stairs.

* * *

"Nothing is wrong with the baby though, right?" Spencer asked the doctor nervously as the nurse continued to check her vitals before exiting.

"No. It's just false labor. It's actually quite common. You'll be good to go as soon as we finish checking your vitals and we're positive nothing is wrong," the doctor assured her with a comforting smile.

"Thank God you're okay," Hanna said as she looked at Spencer.

"Thankfully, she is, too," Spencer said as she looked at her stomach. "Thanks for bringing me and making sure nothing was wrong."

Hanna just smiled in response.

"Hey. I came as quickly as I could. Spencer, are you okay?" Aria asked as she walked into the room.

Spencer nodded. Hanna looked at Aria with crossed arms. "So, Aria, I heard something and I really hope it's not true."

"Han—"

"Did you really go out to lunch with your professor? Again?"

"Hanna," Spencer tried again as she put her hand on Hanna's arm. Hanna pulled away. Aria looked very small at that moment.

"Aria, Jason loves you. How could you go and do that to him?"

Aria just sighed pathetically and said, "I know."

Hanna was left speechless. She didn't expect Aria to own up to it—especially not with how she had been acting lately.

Aria continued. "I know I've been acting really different lately, but I guess I just feel really different lately . . . about everything." Both Spencer and Hanna were a little confused. She continued, "Sometimes, I feel like we did everything backwards. People are supposed to fall in love, get married, and then have a baby. Sometimes I feel like we had the baby and then got married . . . all before we really fell in love . . ."

"Aria, that's completely not true! You were in love before you got married. You were even in love before Cassidy was born," Hanna insisted.

"Really? Because . . . I don't know, I feel like Jason's bored with me now. Maybe he just started dating me because of Cassidy—because he had to. And the two of us are just such different people . . . sometimes I wonder how we work at all."

Spencer looked at Aria sadly. "Aria, that doesn't mean anything."

"No, I understand how people can be different and still get each other—I mean, Spence, you and Toby are so different, but . . . somehow, you're still like the same person. With me and Jason, it's like . . . we have nothing in common," Aria responded meekly. "With Ezra, it's like I can talk to him and he's just so interested in what I have to say."

"He wants to get in your pants, Aria," Hanna deduced.

Aria sighed. "I just don't know what to do."

"Have you spoken to Jason about this?" Spencer asked.

Aria shook her head after a moment's hesitation. There were tears on the edges of her eyes. "He—he left me a voicemail this afternoon. He told me he was going to pick up Cassidy from school. He said that we had a lot to talk about when he—" Her voice caught at the end. "He just sounded really sad on the phone." She looked down like she was ashamed. "I feel like I don't know if I really love him, but if I didn't love him, why does his sadness make me so upset?"

"Aria, you do love him. Maybe not in a romantic way, but you still love him," Spencer insisted. "You need to speak with him."

Aria bit her lip nervously. "I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to be able to even look him in the eye after this. I feel so guilty."

"Why do you feel so guilty?" Hanna asked softly.

Aria scoffed. "Because all of you have been making me feel awful about it!" When Spencer and Hanna jumped a bit at her sudden change in tone, Aria calmed down a little. "And there's something else." Spencer felt her heart drop in her chest. "Today, after the two of us went to get a coffee, he offered to walk me to my car—he said he had to go to the library, anyway, and my car was right by there. He kissed me—and I didn't stop him or push him away." Aria took a deep breath, like she was now struggling for air and the realization of her own indiscretions. "I can't believe it. I actually cheated on him."

Both girls were immensely disappointed and sad, especially Spencer.

"And I'm really sorry I'm telling you this, Spencer. He's your brother—"

Aria's voice dropped off suddenly. Spencer finally looked up at Aria. "I'm not mad at you, Aria." Aria's hazel eyes brightened slightly. "I think what you did was unbelievably stupid, but . . . I'm not mad. It's not my place to be mad at you. If anyone's going to be mad, it should be Jason." Aria nodded. "You need to tell Jason and you need to tell him as soon as possible," Spencer said. "I know he already knows about it, but he needs to hear it from you."

Aria nodded. "I agree," she responded quietly. She sniffled slightly—Spencer hadn't even really realized that she had been crying—and put her hand on Spencer's stomach, changing the subject. "So how is my little niece? Everything is perfectly fine, right?" she asked with a little smile.

"I hope so," Spencer said as she looked down at Aria's hand. "You should go, Aria," she said gently as she put her hand on Aria's. "It's going to be okay."

Aria hoped Spencer was right.

* * *

**_PLLSecrets2010: _**_Thank you so much! I'm really glad that you liked it and I updated in a week which is much better than a month! I really hope you enjoyed it!_

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ I'm really glad you liked it! There's more Jason in the next chapter . . . in fact, I'd say he's sort of like the backbone of the next chapter, even when he's not necessarily there. I hope you liked this!_

**_littlespobette: _**_I'm glad you like it! I promise I won't take it down. I hope this chapter was good :)_

**_Guest: _**_Thanks! I really do try to keep my grammar/spelling/etc. in check, but I do make mistakes every now and then (and it absolutely KILLS ME). Thank YOU for reading my story and I hope you liked this chapter._

**_Kathryn2014:_**_ I'm glad you liked it and it's coming soon :)_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ I'm glad and thanks for reading!_

_Okay, how about if I get six reviews, which is how many I got on this chapter, I'll update early next week? Lol, I should be doing my homework for school, but I'm staying up until 2 AM writing spoby fanfiction. Anyway, thanks for reading! **-Kayson**_


	49. Chapter 48

_**Author's Note:** I don't even want to do anything with this show anymore after that finale . . . _

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Eight**

Aria reluctantly opened the door and stepped into her house. She had stalled for as long as possible because she was extremely scared of coming home to Jason. It wasn't that she was scared of Jason; it was that she was scared of what this would mean for their relationship. She supposed it would've been better if she had told him initially . . . or if she had never done anything at all . . .

Her heart sunk when she saw his silhouette in the very dim light. He was sitting next to a glass of what looked like scotch. He wasn't a poor drinker, but he usually only drank like this—alone, in the dark—when he was feeling particularly horrible.

"Where is Cassidy?" Aria asked. She was almost surprised at how her voice cut through the darkness and how it seemed to echo in her ears.

"She went to sleep about twenty minutes ago. She was tired from that class field trip today," Jason responded, not looking at her.

Aria sighed. She was almost relieved. She knew Jason would never drink in front of Cassidy and that this was likely his first (and would be his only) glass of alcohol. She dropped her bag on the ground and walked over towards him. She sat down right in front of him but didn't look at his face.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly.

There was dead silence.

"For what?"

"You know what, Jason!" She bit her lip in shame. "I shouldn't have been sneaky."

"Why were you?" he asked. He avoided looking at her as well.

Aria shrugged pathetically. "I don't know. I guess I . . ." She shook her head. "I don't know."

"There had to have been a reason—"

"I guess I didn't think anything of it. The guy was my professor. Nothing ever happens between students and their professors—"

They both locked eyes after she said that. They both knew that was a lie.

"I didn't think it was anybody's business," Aria added. She played with the hem of her dress. "But I realize now it is your business because things got more _intense_."

"What?" He sounded brokenhearted in that one word alone.

Aria took a deep breath. "I saw him today in between classes and he . . . he . . ." _Oh, God. I didn't realize this was going to be _this _hard_. "He . . . "

"Just say it, Aria."

"He kissed me. I didn't kiss him back, but I didn't stop him and I didn't push him away," Aria confessed.

Jason didn't say anything. "Did he know that you're married?"

"He knows I have a daughter."

Jason stared at her ring-less left hand. "So he doesn't."

"No."

There was a silence that dragged on for forever. Finally, Jason asked quietly, "Are you ashamed of me?"

Aria looked at him in confusion. "Why would I ever be ashamed of you?"

"You never wear your ring anymore, your new college friends don't know you're married . . ." He looked her in the eyes once more. "If you don't want to be with me anymore, you could just say so." In truth, he loved her—and loved her enough to let her go, if that was what she really wanted.

"No," she answered almost automatically. She was almost surprised at how quickly she responded. It was an epiphany. "No—no," she repeated. "I don't want to be with anybody else. I know that we have our differences and that we're completely different people, but I don't want to be with someone who's just like me." She thought about what Hanna had said that day, about the two of them being in love even before Cassidy was born. "And I love you." She couldn't believe it had taken her this long to remember her feelings for him. They were so obvious and so apparent in hindsight. "I think I first started falling for you not long after I found out I was pregnant. You made me feel so different from everyone else. In some ways, you were even worse than Hanna and Spencer—you were always treating me like a china doll that could break at any moment—but at the same time, you never looked at me like I was some scarlet letter, like I was someone to be blamed for everything. I just felt more like myself when I was around you. I guess I also realized that you were different, too. You never looked like the kind of guy who would really be so gentle and caring and understanding. And I see how you are with Cassidy—" She hadn't realized she was beginning to tear up until her vision began to cloud. "You're just such a good person and I wished I was more like you," she confessed. "I seem like I'd be compassionate and understanding, but I'm jagged and sharp and cold inside, at least sometimes."

"That's not true."

"It is."

Things were silent except for Aria's occasional sniffles. Jason took Aria's hands in his own. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Aria moved to be next to Jason. He wrapped his arm around her. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad that they were on their way to putting this behind them; she wanted so badly for it to be far, far behind them.

"It wasn't about him—Ezra—at all," she decided. Her voice was raspy and hoarse, both from crying and from the extended silence. "Maybe it wasn't even about you, Jason. It was entirely about me," she concluded quietly. "I just—I wanted to feel special. Not even special, just _different_."

He nodded. "I promise I'll be there for you more often, Aria."

"I promise I'll be more honest about my feelings."

They murmured a few more quiet promises before the words faded into nothingness and the two just rested in silence. Like Aria had hoped, the rest of the glass of scotch had gone untouched.

* * *

"Spencer, are you sure you're alright?"

Spencer sighed dramatically as she took a sip of her water. They were sitting in a small diner—a diner they had actually gone to a while ago for one of their first dates. "I am fine!" she insisted. "Hanna told you exactly what the doctor told me; false labor is nothing to be concerned about. It happens to a lot of women in their third trimester." Toby _still _wasn't convinced. "If you want to worry about something, why don't you worry about poor Melissa? She's the one who's dealing with her daughter _and _our son, by herself, as we speak."

"That's true," Toby agreed. He was silent for a few moments. "But the baby—"

Spencer groaned and pressed her fingers to her forehead. "God."

Thankfully, the waitress came. She was a pretty blonde with piercing blue eyes probably around Spencer's age. "Hi. My name is Lauren and I'll be helping you today. Can I get you anything to drink besides water?"

"Do you have tea?" Toby asked.

"We have earl grey, green, lemon, and chai," the waitress responded.

"Green tea, please?"

"And you, Miss?"

"The same, please."

The blonde nodded. "I will be right back with that."

Spencer watched the waitress walk away. "I feel like I know her," she said finally. "She seems so familiar—"

"That's weird," Toby commented apathetically as he looked at the sandwiches.

Spencer rolled her eyes. Toby had never been _that _husband—the one that just said "Yes, Dear" to absolutely everything to get out of a conversation—but lately he'd been acting . . . well, _bipolar_, for lack of a better word. Spencer thought it was stress from the baby being due soon and then the false labor, but still.

* * *

"Spencer, are you going to keep staring this entire time?"

Spencer sighed. "I know I know her. I just don't know where I know her from," she insisted.

"Can I get you anything else?" the waitress asked as she came back.

"Just the check," Toby said, at the same time Spencer said, "What do you have for dessert?"

The waitress stood in confusion for a few moments. "I guess we're having dessert, too," Toby said after a beat of silence.

"Do you know what you'd like?"

Spencer thought of what she was craving. "Do you have pie?"

"Of course. There's cherry, apple, blueberry, peanut butter, lemon meringue, chocolate silk, car—"

"Oh! Chocolate silk sounds really great," Spencer interrupted.

"And you?" the waitress asked, turning towards Toby.

"Um . . ." Spencer shot him a cautionary glare. "Can I have a vanilla milkshake?" He knew Spencer would be drinking most of it herself.

"I will be right back with that," the waitress said with a smile.

Spencer stared as she walked away to another couple two tables down.

"What can I get you to drink, Sweetie?" she asked the guy. He said something to her which Spencer could not hear. "Black Russian. That's a good choice," she responded with her sly smile.

"Spence, you're obsessed," Toby commented.

Spencer groaned. "I am absolutely positive I know her from somewhere . . ." _Black Russian . . .? _

"Chocolate silk pie and a milkshake," the waitress said as she brought back dessert.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Spencer asked abruptly.

The waitress shifted her weight back and forth between her feet, unsure of how to respond.

Toby stuttered. "Please excuse my wife. She's kind of out of it—"

"No, I know I know you from somewhere. I swear I do." She tried studying the woman to see if she could pinpoint it. The waitress fidgeted uncomfortably for a few moments before Spencer exclaimed, "I remember! You made me a Black Russian."

Both Toby and the waitress were seemingly confused. Spencer continued. "I came here one day because I was feeling really upset about messing up with him," she said as she gestured towards Toby, "and you offered to make me a drink because I looked depressed." As Spencer remembered the night in more clarity, she furrowed her eyebrows. "But I thought your name was Alison?"

The waitress bit her lip in nervousness. "I—I do remember that," she confessed.

"Excuse me?"

The waitress looked over her shoulder at another table. "I can explain after, if you let me finish covering these tables," she said finally. Spencer just nodded.

* * *

"I can't believe you were actually right," Toby said as he looked at the half of a milkshake remaining in the glass. "Then again, you're always right so I can't believe that I'm surprised that you were right."

Spencer smiled slightly. She took note of the fact that the diner was now empty except for the two of them.

The waitress walked over with a sigh. She pulled a chair up to their booth. "I do remember you from when we had spoken a while back. I've seen a lot of people come and go, but I guess you always stuck in my mind because . . . well, you were the first person who I told my real name here." Spencer furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Lauren is my middle name, but you know what they say: the bolder the move, the less anyone questions it." The woman took a deep breath. "My real name is Alison. Alison . . . Alison DiLaurentis."

_DiLaurentis_.

"And when your husband said your name—Spencer—I knew the other reason why I couldn't forget you," Alison explained.

"Because you're Jason's sister," Spencer concluded. "And you're my half-sister, too."

Toby was beyond confused.

"You knew I was your half-sister when I came here that long ago?"

Alison shook her head. "No. When I wrote you that letter a couple months back, I looked you up. The internet is a wonderful and scary thing. You looked vaguely familiar when you walked into the diner." There was silence for a few moments before Alison asked weakly, "How is my brother?"

Spencer was unsure of what to say. She pulled out her phone and looked for some pictures to show her. "I never showed him the letter. I didn't tell him," she announced as she looked for some photos. Alison breathed a sigh of relief. Spencer found an old one online of Jason and Aria's wedding and showed it to Alison.

Alison smiled. "That's Jason's wife?" Spencer nodded. "What is she like?"

"Her name is Aria. She's one of my closest friends. She's very sweet and artsy. She's really . . . passionate. Compassionate, too," Spencer explained. She looked and found a more recent picture of Cassidy. "And that's his daughter, Cassidy. Your niece," Spencer said.

Alison looked in shock. "She looks a lot like him, especially in those eyes." Cassidy had more hazel eyes—rather similar to Aria's, actually—but in that particular picture, they looked greyish-blue, much like Jason's.

There was silence between the two women for a few moments before Spencer said, "I don't think Jason would be upset with you if he were to see you. He would just be happy to have his sister back. From what he's said about you, he just really misses you."

"Really?" There were tears in Alison's eyes. Now that she looked at them, Spencer realized they were a similar blue to Jason's eyes. Spencer nodded.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you liked this one! Thanks for reviewing!_

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Spencer is perfectly fine, and so is the baby. I promise. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

**_Guest (Aimee): _**_I'm really glad you liked it and really? That's cool. I get the same feeling whenever I see March 25th mentioned. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!_

**_pinkprincess007:_**_ Aww, thanks! Your review is actually what reminded me that I really needed to update, so thanks for that. And to address your question (since it wasn't explicitly answered here), Spencer called Toby from the hospital and told him not to come because it was just a false alarm (she was in false labor and it wasn't anything serious or anything to be concerned about) and Hanna just brought her home afterwards. Sorry for not addressing that!_

_Well, I've been buried under a pile of summer homework (like chemistry, thanks for giving us 200 pages of chem homework) and I am honestly SO DONE WITH THIS SHOW that I barely even want to finish anything involving PLL, BUT I'm not about to drop this story when I'm so close to the end. Whether or not I write any other stories after this one is still up in the air . . ._


	50. Chapter 49

_**Author's Note:** I'm crying because of AP classes and also I swear I tried to update like two or three days ago but fanfiction was down so . . . sucky excuses, I know, but personally, I'm really happy with this chapter and I hope you like it!_

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Nine**

"I'm really glad we were able to get together one last time before Spencer has her baby," Hanna said as she unpacked the Chinese food. "No guys, no kids—" Emily cleared her throat. "No _girlfriends_, just the four of us."

Aria smiled as she took the chopsticks out of the bottom of the bag. "I feel like we should do this more often. It's really relaxing being here with the three of us."

Spencer nodded in agreement as she tossed the takeout bag aside. "I have news I need to tell you."

"Me, too," Aria announced.

"Me, three," Hanna said.

"I don't have news, just a question," Emily said.

"Spencer, since you're the one who might go into spontaneous labor at any moment, why don't you start?" Hanna asked.

Spencer took a deep breath. "I found Jason's sister, Alison." There was an audible gasp among the other girls—probably coming from Aria, though Emily and Hanna were just as astounded. "She owns a diner on the outskirts of Rosewood and she goes by the name Lauren now. Toby and I went there on Saturday and she was our waitress. I knew I recognized her from somewhere and he didn't believe me."

"Well, a Hastings is never wrong," Emily commented. "Even if that Hastings goes by Cavanaugh now."

"Seriously? Have you told Jason yet?" Aria asked excitedly.

"I'm pretty sure if I did, you would have known by now," Spencer responded as she took a bite of some of her food.

"This is great. Jason is going to be so excited!" Hanna exclaimed.

Spencer nodded in response. "I got her phone number. I think I might be able to get her to consent to a meeting between the two of them, maybe with Aria, too."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "You're throwing me in the middle?"

Spencer shrugged. "Alison seemed really excited to meet her sister-in-law and her niece."

After a long silence, Hanna turned to Aria. "Alright, Tiny. You're up. What news have you got?"

"Well, I'm dropping Ezra's class. I decided that it's not worth risking my relationship with Jason. I love him too much for one stupid class and one cute professor to screw it all up. I'll take another class for the same credit next semester," Aria announced. "Not some big, life-changing announcement like Spencer's, but I figured you'd all be curious to know."

Hanna smiled in response. "Speaking of life-changing announcements . . . Caleb and I talked and I'm not on the pill anymore. We're trying to get pregnant."

All the girls murmured in excitement. "That's so great, Hanna!" Emily exclaimed.

"I can just imagine a little mini-Hanna or a mini-Caleb," Aria said and the other three laughed trying to picture it.

"Okay, Aria, Cassidy kind of happened by accident, so Spence? Do you have any tips?" Hanna asked.

Spencer thought of it as she took another bite of food. "Don't work yourself up over it. The best things happen when you don't expect them and sometimes stressing yourself out over it will actually keep you from getting pregnant," Spencer advised. "And if it doesn't happen the first few times, don't get too discouraged. Just keep trying."

"Trust me, I will," Hanna replied with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Too much information, Han," Aria responded. The other girls laughed. Emily fiddled with her chopsticks as she thought over something. Aria noticed. "Em, what's wrong?"

Emily shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. It's just, I've—I don't really know what to do. I've been dating Natalie for a while now and I really love her, but I don't know what to do about it. Do I ask her if she wants to get married? I don't know if she even wants to get married, or if she wants a wedding? Do I ask her to move in with me? Do I ask to move in with her? Do we start planning for the future? Do—"

"Alright, too many questions." Hanna dragged the wine away from Emily. "You need to slow down, girl."

"Talk to her about it. Honestly, Em, if you don't want to get married, you don't have to. Or if you do want to get married but you don't want a big, expensive wedding, you don't need one," Spencer told Emily.

"Spence is right. Before you start thinking about any of that, you should talk to Natalie about it," Aria agreed.

Emily nodded after a moment of thinking it over.

"Oh, my God. Can you imagine how much fun Emily and Natalie's wedding would be? It's not as fun as a gay wedding between two guys, but—"

"Hanna?" Hanna turned her blue eyes innocently to Spencer. "Eat your dumplings and stop talking."

Hanna rolled her eyes, but did go back to her food. Emily and Aria laughed.

* * *

Spencer hung up the phone before going into her closet to get more clothes. "Are you sure this is such a good idea, Spence?"

Spencer looked over her shoulder at Toby. "It's a great idea! Alison and Jason are going to get to see each other for the first time in years. That's his sister, Toby. He's going to be so happy to see her."

"That's not what I was talking about," he said as he sat up on their bed. "Why don't you _tell _Jason that you're bringing him to meet Alison? Why are you acting all sneaky and pretending that you want to have dinner with him?"

"Ali asked me to," Spencer said as she brought another shirt over to the bed and began to fold it. "What?" she asked with an amused half-smile at Toby's raised eyebrow.

"'Ali'? You guys are on a nickname-basis now?" Toby asked. Although he had his reservations, he was happy that Spencer was getting along with her half-sister.

Spencer smiled as she put the shirt in a bag she'd prepared for when she went into labor. "Alison asked me to call her Ali. She said that if things work out, she'd like to get closer to her brother again and potentially go back to using her real name." Spencer finished packing the bag and sighed. "I can't believe the baby is coming so soon."

Toby smiled and grabbed her hand. He pulled her closer. "Have you thought about what you wanted to name her?"

Spencer looked down at her stomach. "I don't . . . I mean, I've thought about it, but I'm not tied to any names." She looked up at him. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you want." Spencer rolled her eyes. "What?"

"You're not even going to offer a suggestion?" she asked.

"I want to see her first." Spencer sighed. "What if I let you pick a name and I have veto power?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "You're just going to say yes to whatever I suggest," she responded.

"I promise I won't if I don't think that should be her name."

Spencer pouted but didn't argue. "_Fine_."

* * *

Lauren—Alison (it was so weird to use that name again after so many years) fidgeted nervously as she waited with Spencer to see her brother for the first time. Spencer was writing in the condensation on her glass of water when her head snapped up. "He's here," she said as she fixed her eyes on something behind Alison.

Alison turned around and looked at her brother face-to-face for the first time in years.

"Alison?" Jason froze in place.

Alison gulped, unsure of whether or not he was mad at her for hiding for so many years. "Jason?"

"I can't believe it's you," he said after a long pause. "I thought I would never see you again."

His voice was cracking and Alison smiled slightly. "It's me."

"Where have you been? Why haven't you let me and Mom contact you for so long? Do you know what that was like?" His tone wasn't patronizing or angry, just concerned and maybe a little hurt.

"I can explain everything," Alison promised. "Please just don't be mad."

* * *

"Start at the beginning."

Alison took a deep breath. "After you left for college, I started getting really depressed. Mom saw it, but she had no idea what to do about it. I guess I sort of just bided my time until I graduated and then until I turned eighteen and Mom had no power over me.

"I ran away. I had known I wanted to run away for a while before then. I had been saving up the money since I was like thirteen . . . I just wanted to get out of there. I kept talking to Mom because I know she would've been worried sick and I couldn't live with myself if she had done something drastic and ridiculous . . . you know our mom, Jason. And I never told you because—you were my older brother. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me.

"Anyway, I was doing a bunch of really awful things. I just got caught up with the wrong people. You don't want to know some of the things I did. The most I guess I can say is that . . . I was relying on the kindness of strangers for a while. Also, reading a lot of Tennessee Williams." Jason gave her an incredulous look. "What? I didn't let myself turn into a total pothead, okay? I'm a lot of things, but stupid's not one of them."

She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I somehow managed to get all over the country with a bunch of different people—some were bad, some were good, and somewhere in the middle. Some knew exactly what they wanted and who they wanted to be and others were still wandering, not sure where they were going or what they were doing, exactly, but hoping to achieve some sort of inner peace, I guess. Some were drinkers, others were stoners, and some were the most pious people you'd ever met.

"There was this one day I had run away—I got myself into a really bad situation that's sort of funny in retrospect, but that's another story for another day. Anyway, it was in L.A. In L.A., nothing is cheap; you had to go to the seedy parts of Hollywood for that. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea, but I took the money this bitch Lianne took from me—or what was left of it; she spent half of it on coke, which she had just snorted and was still high off of when I left. By the way, I was never stupid like that—I always kept my money in a safe place and when I got high, it was only with people that I trusted or people I knew wouldn't take my personal things.

"But where was I? Oh, yeah, Hollywood. So I kept walking for a while and found myself going through L.A. Apparently, I went a little too far and found this little hole-in-the-wall diner that had the unfortunate real estate of being right on Skid Row.

"There were a couple of homeless people that were bothering me, but more than anything, I just felt bad for them. A lot of them looked like . . . well, like me. And in that moment, I realized I was homeless—completely homeless. It made me pretty depressed, actually, thinking of myself as being one of them. God, I sound like a little spoiled brat now, don't I? Being homeless wasn't actually so bad . . .

"But back to the diner. I sat down at the little bar they had inside—you know, one of those old-fashioned ones where they'd serve you a fountain soda and you could watch them make it? It was kind of cute, actually—a little dilapidated, but it felt comfortable at the same time. The waitress who was there, along with one or two others, could tell there was something about me. It was practically a ghost town in there, so she took it upon herself to talk to me. I guess she could tell I was feeling a little depressed. She was probably about my age, maybe a little older. She let me talk for a long time—I think I even cried a little. God, how pathetic do you think I looked? I was probably all dirty and probably smelled like weed . . . but anyway, she let me talk and she actually listened. It was so great to be around someone who just listened—never talked back, just listened.

"When I was done telling my story, I realized that we were all alone now. She could tell I was getting nervous because I wasn't used to being alone with people, especially in places like that—places where I didn't know anyone or anything and had no escape route. She told me not to worry; she wasn't going to hurt me. And she never did.

"She was so nice and I'll never know why. She gave me a job working there. I didn't say this before, but as it turned out, her dad owned the place—it was her mom's dream, and then her mom got sick and died, so her dad took it over—and then when _he _died, she took it over, even though she knew it was moribund anyway. I worked there for a while—a couple of months. My letters to Mom and you started dwindling, and I don't really know why. She lent me her couch to sleep on. I paid her rent, but I found other little jobs and before I knew it, I had enough money to go someplace a little bit less . . . depressing. But I will never forget that little diner on Skid Row . . .

". . . So I came back to the East Coast. Took a Greyhound to any old place on the East Coast. Things were a little hazy for a couple of months, but I ended up someplace in Baltimore—the bad parts. I guess you can say trouble just follows me. I started out in the worst of the worst, but eventually, I moved onto the 'better parts' of town. I thought it was depressing seeing homeless people—people just like me—there on the street, like nobody wanted them, but I realized it was even more depressing _not _seeing them there. It was like someone had just taken a sweeper and swept them off into the dark, where no one would see them. Like they were trash. They weren't trash—_we _weren't trash."

Alison was silent for several seconds. She seemed to be meditating on that. She then continued, "Anyway. I found myself trailing back to Philadelphia. The not-so-good parts of town, again. I hadn't realized how much money I had until this girl I worked with found my stash and asked me what the hell I was still doing sleeping on park benches or on people's couches. I had a lot of money and nothing to do with it.

"There was this little old building halfway between Philadelphia and Rosewood. An old restaurant nobody wanted. I wanted it. I asked the landlord how much and he told me that I was crazy for wanting it. I don't care, I told him. I want it. And so I got it. It was a deal, too—he practically gave the thing to me. He said it was in a crappy area—there was nothing around. It was hard, even, to say whether it was in Rosewood or Philadelphia. I thought it was fitting—a townless restaurant for a homeless girl.

"I fixed it up. I wanted it to look almost like that diner in Skid Row, but less dilapidated—I still wanted to have business, after all.

"As it turns out, the landlord underestimated its location; there were actually quite a lot of people who stopped there on their way out of Philadelphia, to New York, I guess. People seemed to like it.

"But I didn't really care about that businessman who wanted a bacon burger on his way to settle his business dealings. There were some people who intrigued me—the people who looked lost. The people who looked like me—the ones with nowhere to go. There were a couple of runaways I saw. Some people who looked like they were running from the law . . . others were running from themselves.

"I saw Spencer come in one day and she wasn't really like everyone else. A lot of the people who looked homeless really _looked _homeless—either they were wearing clothing that was falling apart at the seams or they looked like _they, _themselves, were falling apart at the seams or something in between or a mixture of both—but Spencer looked so different. She looked like someone who had her life entirely put together—looked like someone who probably had a family, a stable job, a place to stay, friends—and still looked so completely lost. It was really interesting—I never thought that someone with all of that could still be homeless.

"So I sat down and talked to her. I still don't know exactly why I decided to tell her my real name . . . maybe it was because I felt some sort of personal connection to her—after all, I once had all of that, too. Or maybe it was that we were entirely different and that intrigued me. I don't know.

"I think I realized, maybe not long after I'd met Spencer, that living a nomad's life wasn't so fun or thrilling as I once thought it was. I decided to try to find you and whoever was left of our family. By this point, I was scared about making you mad, so I contacted Spencer instead. I didn't leave a return address—I guess I had gotten into that habit by then. I guess I was just hoping fate would somehow bring me to you. I guess I have a lot of faith—enough to rest my head wherever I could and not worry about something happening, enough to let our paths cross again.

"So I guess fate was good to me when Spencer came to the diner the other day. And that's how we ended up here."

Spencer took one look at the two of them. They had so much to talk about. So much that Spencer felt it fitting that she leave so they could spend the night together. "I think I should go and leave the two of you alone," she announced as she backed out slowly. "Tell me how it went, okay?" she asked Jason softly.

* * *

**_sarahschneider2012:_**_ Thank you! And I'm glad I'm not the only one who was extremely mad about the finale. It seems like at least half of the fandom was at least a little annoyed with it, so I guess I feel alright about it. I'm really, really glad you liked it, though! Thanks!_

**_Guest: _**_Lexyyyy you're the best bruh I'm moving to California for college (lol probably not but let's just say I went to Occidental college you and I are becoming roomies alright okay). Thanks for coming to review :) I'm an insecure little bitch who needs to feel validated ik but thanks bruh. _

**_arubagirl0926: _**_Okay, I promise, no more twists. I'm all out of twists for this story. It's been a wild ride. Thanks for reviewing. _

_Originally, this chapter was supposed to have more to do with Spencer and Emily, but then I got sort of carried away with Alison's backstory because I felt like she was important, and this is where it led me. _

_The next chapter is the last chapter and after that will be a (likely very) brief epilogue. _

_Also, I started writing a 6B fanfiction because I've had it up to here with the writers and I bet a dollar that I could write a better season 6B than Marlene (and also I'm suicidal so on top of AB Calculus, AP Chem, U.S., and Lit, I decided I would start on another project. I like to keep busy I guess). I may post it on here, but i'm not sure yet. Right now, it's on my tumblr, thefaketeam, and you can find it easily by searching for "pll 6B", if you're interested in reading it. **-Kayson**_


	51. Chapter 50

_**Author's Note: **After putting it off for like five billion years (partially due to all the homework I've been getting, but also probably mostly because I didn't really want to write this chapter . . . I mean, this story is like my baby), this is what I've come up with. I think it's maybe a little longer than most chapters. I hope you enjoy the last chapter (*sob*). _

* * *

**Chapter Fifty**

Spencer fidgeted nervously the next morning. She was so anxious that she didn't even get a cup of coffee. _Not even one_. She settled for some orange juice—which she didn't even really drink much of—and a slice of toast with jam on it. Even she was surprised she could eat only one slice of toast; lately, her appetite had been insatiable.

She wasn't quite sure what she was so anxious about; she was still waiting to hear from Jason about how his dinner with Alison went. At the same time, her due date was also approaching and the baby had been moving around like crazy; she only slept for about six hours in two hour periods the previous night.

Everyone in the house was either sleeping or gone; Toy had been at work for at least an hour now while Alex was fast asleep. Even Mowgli, Pandora, and Missy were still fast asleep. She was bored.

Her phone began to ring a few minutes after she gave up on finishing the orange juice. "Hello?"

"Spencer." It was Jason.

"Jason, hi! How did the dinner go?"

"It was . . . it was really nice." Spencer breathed a sigh of relief. "It was really great seeing her for the first time in so long. She looks different, but she remained pretty much the same," he explained.

"I'm so happy to hear that."

After a beat of silence, Spencer began to hear Alex cry. That meant one thing: soon enough, the cats and the dog would be up, too. And then Spencer would be _wishing _for this moment of boredom. "Sorry, Jason. I have to go. Alex is crying for me."

They exchanged a goodbye and Spencer walked upstairs to get Alex. "Hi, baby," she said as she picked him up. "Did you drop your toy?" she asked when she noticed his stuffed dinosaur sitting on the floor near his crib. She bent down to get it and she noticed this pain in her back. It wasn't a sharp, shooting pain. Not yet, anyway.

She continued along with her daily routine—feeding Alex, then feeding the pets, all before playing with Alex a little—before she noticed her pain getting worse.

"Ow," she murmured to herself as she poured herself and Aria tea later that day.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Spencer groaned. "My back is hurting me. I don't know what it is."

"Maybe you're going into labor," Aria hinted with a little smile.

"I doubt it," Spencer responded as she put some honey in her tea.

Aria shrugged and put sugar in her tea. Spencer groaned with more pain. "I think it's happening, Spence," Aria sing-songed.

"Yeah, sure. But anyway, how are you and Jason?"

Aria smiled. "We're really good. Made up more than once," Aria said with a small smirk.

"You're lucky you're cute because I would not tolerate anyone else talking about having sex with my brother," Spencer decided. She walked over to bring her teacup to the dining room table, but a sudden shot of pain took her by surprise and she dropped the cup on the floor. "God!"

"Spencer, are you sure you're okay?"

"No, no."

"I'm taking you to the hospital," Aria decided. She picked up Alex herself and took Spencer's keys. "Come on, Spencer. You're definitely going into labor."

* * *

"Now all we have to do is wait."

Hanna sighed as she lay down on the bed with Emily. "Hold my hand, Em? I'm so nervous and excited and—"

Emily held Hanna's hand and Hanna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hanna!" She heard Caleb's footsteps in the hall, making their way closer to their bedroom door. He opened the door to see Hanna and Emily lying on the bed peacefully, holding hands. "Are you cheating on me with Emily?"

Both girls sat up. The timer on Emily's phone went off. "Time's up, Hanna."

Hanna rolled her eyes before reaching over to grab the pregnancy test on the bedside table. "Alright, I am going to let that one slide because I'm holding a pregnancy test right now, and positive or not, Emily is definitely not the father," she retorted. Emily laughed. Hanna took a deep breath before looking down at the pregnancy test. "It's positive!"

"Really?" Emily asked. She took the pregnancy test from Hanna. "Hanna, this is one line, not two. You're not pregnant."

Hanna pouted. "Are you sure?"

Emily rolled her eyes with a sigh. Her phone beeped. "Oh my God."

Hanna peered over Emily's shoulder. "What is it, Em?"

"Aria is at the hospital with Spencer. Spencer's having the baby," Emily announced.

* * *

"I can't believe she's having the baby as we speak," Natalie commented as she watched Aria bounce Alex on her knees. Natalie had rushed over as soon as she heard the news, bringing with her a stuffed kitten toy for the little girl.

"The doctors said she was like three centimeters dilated. She's getting there, but she's not quite there yet," Aria reassured her. "You weren't here when Toby got here, but you should've seen the look on his face." Her smile broke into a laugh. "He looked like he was so scared that he missed the birth of his daughter even though we got here like ten minutes before he did."

"Hey, hey, hey! No pushing and shoving, Emily! The baby's not going to be born without you." Aria and Natalie looked over to see Hanna shuffling into the hospital in front of an eager Emily. Hanna looked wildly out of place in her designer heels.

"You dressed up for today, I see," Aria commented.

Hanna smiled as she sat next to Aria. "A princess is being born. I figured I'd look my best for the occasion," she explained with a small shrug. She stood still for a moment before scrunching her nose. "Ugh, I'm going to vomit. What is that smell?" she frowned.

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Probably industrial cleaner and afterbirth."

"It smells gross," Hanna complained.

* * *

"Why did we even bother coming here? We should've known that the baby was going to take like five years to be born anyway," Hanna bitched.

"Hanna, please, shove something in your mouth before I shove my fist into it," Aria, who had gotten sick of Hanna's complaining five hours prior, said as she dug her palm into her forehead.

Hanna sighed before resting her head on Aria's shoulder. "That little girl better be the cutest baby in the whole wide world."

"Is she drunk?" Aria asked.

Emily shook her head. "Just loopy."

"Okay, I know we're supposed to be waiting here," Hanna began, getting up and ignoring the other girls, "but I am frickin' starving. Can we_ please _go out to get something to eat?"

"I second that," Emily agreed.

"We should go to the burger place down the street," Hanna suggested.

Aria grimaced. "That place is disgusting."

"But their fries are so good."

"Their fries are literally fake potatoes soaked in grease," Emily responded.

"Don't you love greasy fries, though?" Hanna asked.

"No," the other girls replied in unison.

Emily squinted her eyes. "Hanna, are you sure that pregnancy test was good?"

* * *

Spencer groaned as she went through another contraction. The pain was just as bad—if not worse—than she remembered her labor pains from Alex being. Toby frowned as he brushed some hair away from Spencer's face. "I'm so sorry, Spence."

"I just wish this baby would come out already," Spencer complained.

"She's coming, Spence," Toby said as he kneeled next to the bed and squeezed her hand.

"Not fast enough," she moaned. With a whimper, she added, "I feel like this baby is even worse than Alex was. Isn't the second child supposed to be less painful?"

"Clearly, you don't remember being in labor with Alex. You nearly broke my hand," Toby said as Spencer had another contraction.

She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't," he assured her before kissing her on the forehead.

A nurse came in a few moments later. "How are you feeling, Mrs. Cavanaugh?" she asked.

"Oh, I've been better."

"Are your contractions getting closer together?"

Spencer whimpered a "yes."

The nurse looked at Spencer for a second before saying, "I'm going to go get the doctor right away."

Toby put his hand on Spencer's forehead. He was just thinking of ways to try to get Spencer to forget about the pain when Dr. Reynolds walked into the room. "Let's take a look at you now, shall we?" The doctor walked over to Spencer and took a look at her. After a moment of examination, she announced, "You're fully dilated. Spencer, you're having this baby now."

* * *

"Where are the pregnancy tests?" Emily asked as she, Aria, and Hanna walked into a nearby pharmacy.

"Where are the cheesy puffs?" Hanna asked.

Aria grimaced. "You just had a cheeseburger and fries _and _some of my fries. Haven't you had enough?" she inquired.

"I'm still hungry," Hanna insisted.

Emily ignored both of them and went right to the back where the pregnancy tests were. Hanna and Aria followed.

"Which one is the best?" Emily asked as she looked at a row of pregnancy tests. There were like a billion different brands, some that had words, some that had lines, some that had pluses or minuses . . . confusing, to say the least. "I heard this one is the best," Emily said as she picked up one in a pink box at random.

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows. Aria pulled the box out of Hanna's hand. "Make sure it's not expired. Sometimes, they can give you a false positive." Aria checked and handed it back to Hanna. "What are you waiting for?" she asked when Hanna didn't move.

"Right," Hanna said before going over to the cashier.

"What if Hanna's pregnant? Can you picture her pregnant?" Aria asked. Emily shook her head. "As crazy as she might be, she'd be a really great mom."

Emily nodded in agreement. Hanna came back a couple of moments later. "Okay, so I'm going to use the bathroom in the back," Hanna announced as she walked back to them.

"Don't die," Aria said. Hanna shrugged it off before leaving.

Aria and Emily stood in silence for a moment. Emily looked over at a clock. "Don't you have to pick up Cassidy soon?"

Aria looked over at the clock. "Shoot. You're right. I'll go with you both back to the hospital and then I have to go get her."

"I'll get Hanna," Emily announced. She went over to the bathroom door and knocked.

"It's occupied!" Hanna shouted.

"Hanna, you're a moron. It's Emily. We have to go."

"I'm not done yet!"

"How long does it take to pee on a stick?"

"I'm dehydrated!"

Emily rolled her eyes. Half a minute later, Hanna walked out. "The test isn't done yet," Hanna said.

"Take your test to go. Aria has to go pick up Cassidy in like forty minutes."

"Fine," Hanna huffed, holding the test carefully. "Let's go back to the hospital."

* * *

Spencer grabbed her husband's hand as she pushed through the pain. She was almost positive she didn't remember Alex's birth being this painful. She kind of wanted to scream.

"You're almost there, Spencer," Toby promised her quietly and calmly.

"I see the head of the baby," Dr. Reynolds assured Spencer.

"See, Spence? It's almost over."

Almost wasn't soon enough, Spencer realized.

* * *

"What did you do at school today, sweetie?" Aria asked when she picked Cassidy up from school.

"Um . . . I don't remember. What did _you _do today, Mommy?" Cassidy asked, turning the tables on her mom.

Aria smiled. "Well, do you know how Auntie Spencer is pregnant and she's having a baby?" Cassidy nodded, which Aria saw in the rear-view mirror. "Auntie Spencer is in the hospital right now, having the baby," Aria said.

"Really?" Cassidy seemed so excited. Aria nodded in response. "So I'm going to have another baby cousin?"

"Yes, sweetie."

* * *

Back at the hospital, Spencer was at the point where she wasn't sure whether she could take any more pain. She truly did not remember anything like this before. She wanted to cry—and scream and give up altogether.

And then the pain seemed to go away.

Why was that? Maybe it was because she no longer had to push. Maybe because she no longer had an additional ten pounds or so sitting on her internal organs. But it was probably because of the cries that she heard in the hospital room a few seconds after the pain seemed to ebb. Then, the pain seemed to cease altogether.

A few minutes later, she got to see her baby girl and hold her—and she knew immediately why she had forgotten all that pain she experienced the first time she was in labor.

"What do you want to name her?" Toby's voice pulled her back into reality, where she realized that all the nurses and the doctor had left the room for a moment to give them privacy. His voice was as gentle and as soft as a feather and sounded so vulnerable that she thought at any given moment he might cry.

She looked down at the baby. "I . . . um . . ." She looked down at the baby again. She thought this would be easier when she saw the baby—saw her big blue eyes and her rosy cheeks—and that the name would just come to her, but she was at a loss. "I don't know. Don't you have a name?"

He shook his head. "A letter?"

Spencer shrugged. "I don't know." She bit her lip. "What if we choose a bad name that doesn't suit her at all?"

* * *

"I want to see the baby! I want to see the baby, Mommy!" Cassidy said excitedly as Aria walked in front of Cassidy, into the hospital again. Cassidy was tugging on Aria's sleeve, a bundle of excitement and joy.

"I promise," Aria said, picking Cassidy up, "you're going to get to see the baby soon. Aunt Melissa texted me telling me that Auntie Spencer had the baby already."

"I want to see the baby!" Cassidy repeated with more fervor.

Aria smiled and shook her head at her daughter in amusement as they entered the elevator to go see Spencer. Aria put Cassidy down and looked over at her inquisitively. "Were you this excited when Alex was born?"

Cassidy shrugged. "That was different then. I was like four. Now I'm six, Mommy."

"Of course."

The elevator door opened and Cassidy practically ran out. "Wait for me! Don't go bumping into IV drips without me!" Aria called. Aria took Cassidy by the hand before leading her down the hallway to Spencer's room.

Cassidy peeked her little head through all of the rooms her aunt might possibly be in before encountering the right one. "Auntie Spencer!" she exclaimed before running into the room and leaning on the bed.

"Hi, bumblebee!" Spencer greeted in excitement. "Did you want to meet your new little cousin?"

Cassidy nodded eagerly. "What's her name?" she asked as she looked at the little baby swaddled in a pink blanket and a white hat.

"We don't know yet. What does she look like to you?" Spencer asked.

Cassidy looked at the baby with a very pensive face—she had her little brow furrowed as she bit her bottom pink lip. "Sophie."

"Sophie?" Toby asked. Cassidy nodded in response.

"What about Sophia?" Spencer asked.

"Even better!" Cassidy agreed with an enthusiastic smile. "Sophia . . . cousin Sophia . . . Sophie."

"Sophia it is, then," Spencer responded with a smile.

* * *

"I knew what your name was going to be because I'm a psychic. Little Sophia, pretty Sophia," Hanna sing-songed, half to herself and half to the baby, though Spencer heard it all and was amused.

"I can't believe you put a bet on what my baby would be named," Spencer commented as she watched Emily and Hanna fawn over her baby.

"I can't believe Hanna got it right," Emily commented. "Can I hold her?"

Hanna frowned for a moment before holding the baby closer for a split second. "Fine," she acquiesced finally. "I guess it's okay because—"

She cut herself off. Spencer raised a curious eyebrow. "Am I missing out on something?"

Emily smiled at Hanna. Hanna bit her lip, not even hiding her smile in the slightest. "Well, now that you mention it, there is something that I have to say . . ." Hanna began, trailing off. "I'm pregnant," she announced finally.

"Really?" Spencer asked excitedly. Hanna nodded. "Hanna, I'm so happy for you!" Hanna hugged Spencer. "Does Caleb know?"

"No, but I'm going to tell him tonight when I see him and I'm sure he's going to be really happy about it," Hanna explained. Spencer held her by the hand.

* * *

"Sophia. Sophia? Or Sophie, if you want to call her that," Spencer said to Alex as she tried putting Sophia to sleep the first day they came back home. Alex peered over the bassinet to look at his little sister.

"Baby sister . . ." he seemed to say to himself.

Spencer smiled. "Do you want to leave her to go to sleep?" she asked in a quiet voice as she picked him up to leave the room. He nodded. "Come on, I'll give you some fruit downstairs. Daddy should be home soon." He smiled. She grabbed the baby monitor before leaving the room.

They went downstairs and Spencer began cutting up a banana for the two of them to share, along with washing some berries—Alex loved blueberries the most.

* * *

Later that night, Spencer realized she might be recovering from her pregnancy fatigue for a while.

"You're exhausted," Toby observed. Spencer was struggling to keep her eyes open—even with her dose of caffeine, which she was very excited to be able to enjoy again.

She shook her head with a small noise of disagreement, but it was clear she had about five seconds until she'd give into her exhaustion. "Come on," he said finally. She didn't even look up at him, but was startled awake when he picked her up to bring her upstairs.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm bringing you to bed."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking up the stairs!"

"At the rate you're going at now, you'd probably fall down the stairs if you tried to walk up them," he commented.

She rolled her eyes. When they got upstairs and he placed her in bed. "Can you come lay with me?" Spencer asked. He obliged and lay down next to her. She curled up next to him and he placed his arm around her. "I'm so tired," she admitted finally.

"I know that."

"I love you," she murmured into his shoulder. "Thank you so much."

"For what?" he asked. Maybe it was just the tiredness talking, but Toby didn't know what she was talking about.

"You gave me the three greatest things I could ever ask for," she responded quietly.

"I can guess what the first and second things are. What's the third?"

"Your love," she responded simply. "I love you so much," she mumbled into his neck.

He smiled. "I love you, too."

He lay there with her for a few minutes until she fell asleep. He thought about trying to get up, but he opted against it. He was too entangled; he never wanted to leave her side.

* * *

**_Jmcncrlsd: _**_(Just wanted to say, I apologize in advance if I messed up your username) Did you not like Alison's story? It's alright if you didn't, but I act actually kind of excited about it. Thanks for reading and supporting and reviewing!_

**_sarahschneider2012: _**_Thank you. I wanted to post the story (and I wanted to continue with it, but I've been really busy and I wasn't getting a ton of response about what I had posted so I was just like whatever) so maybe I'll post what I have of it on here. Maybe. I still don't know. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and being so loyal to this story. I really cannot articulate how much it means to me, even though I'm terrible at updating! I really hope you enjoyed it! _

**_venna26: _**_Thanks for the review :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

**_arubagirl0926:_**_ Thank you so much for being so supportive :)_

**_SassyPants007: _**_Okay, first off, LOVE the username. Second, thanks so much! I really appreciate that. I don't know if there's going to be another story, but if there is, I'm going to try to make it even better than this one :)_

_So I'm officially trying to hold in my tears because I am very sad that this is now over. Well, technically, it's not over just yet-I still have the epilogue left (speaking of which, what do you want to happen to the characters, say, five years down the road?) and THEN it will officially be over, but . . . you get what I mean. I'm trying to come to terms with it now so that in a month (which is probably when the next update will be lol I'm so bad about updating) I won't be quite so sad when it's all over. _

_Thank you, everyone, for being so supportive and reading this story even though it's probably bad and I never update :) xoxo -**Kayson**_


	52. Epilogue

_**Author's Note:** I don't even want to talk about the shite that is this epilogue. Don't even touch me; I'm so angry right now. _

_Just warning you: some of you are not going to be happy. I got lazy and I felt like trying to add in certain characters would make the ending really awkward and I was basically done when I remembered them and I was pretty satisfied with how things turned out, so I'll tell you how things ended up for them. _

_Hanna and Caleb had two children: a daughter (name is open to your imagination) and a son (same thing). Natalie and Emily got married like two years after Chapter 50. They adopted a girl like a year after getting married (two years before the epilogue; name is also open to your imagination). Shane and Tiffany (who nobody really seemed to care about anyway) had three kids before this epilogue (Chloe, Damian, Nicole) and had no more kids because they would have died. I don't know what happened to Melissa and Wren. Pamela is fine. Alison is off being a bartender somewhere idk. _

* * *

**Epilogue**

"You're so mean!"

"You started it!"

Sophia pouted, her crystal blue eyes darkening as she crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. Her older brother seemed completely unaffected by the fact that he'd annoyed his sister. "Mommy!" she called out, running off into the kitchen where her mom was cutting some vegetables for lunch. "Mommy, Alex is being mean," Sophia complained.

"Oh? What did he do to you?"

She pouted. "He won't play a game with me and he keeps teasing me about my dolls," she said with a frown.

Her mother frowned as she held her daughter's little dimpled chin. "Alex! Be nice to your sister. Play a game with her."

"Her games are boring!"

The little girl scoffed. "Boys. When Cassidy comes over I'm going to play with her because she's cooler than Alex." Spencer couldn't help but laugh.

The door creaked open. Sophia got excited like she always did when someone new walked into the house. Sophia ran to the door to see who it was. "Daddy!" She always got the most excited when Toby came home. Toby picked her up and spun her around. Sophia laughed and hugged her dad. "Pretty flowers," she commented.

Spencer smiled slightly when she heard the comment, though she didn't look.

"Dad!" Alex came over next. Toby had been away for two days before. He was supposed to have come home the previous night, but he had to stay until the morning.

After they were both done greeting their father, Alex finally turned to his little sister with a sigh. "_Fine_, I'll play with you. But we're playing castle—and not with your dolls."

"Fine!" Sophia agreed. They both ran off upstairs.

Spencer didn't even look over at her husband. She was a little bit annoyed with his sudden change in plans—not _that _annoyed, but she liked messing with him like this—even if only for a little bit.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked. She just looked at him, silently, with an unwavering, stoic expression. "I'm sorry, Spence. I didn't know that things would be ending so late and I didn't want to drive all the way back from New York so late at night and—"

She cut him off with a kiss on the lips. "I'm not mad." She looked at the flowers. "What do you have there?"

"Tulips and roses and hollies—"

"Did you buy the entire flower shop?" she asked with an amused smile. "These are beautiful. Thank you," she said before kissing him again. She abandoned cutting vegetables to put the flowers in water.

"What would you say," he began, getting closer to her, "if I suggested we turn this date night into a complete date _night _and we stayed in a hotel instead of coming back home after dinner?"

She smiled slightly. "I'd say I'm not exactly opposed to it." Her shoulders dropped. "But there's nobody to watch Alex and Sophie. Aria was coming over later, but I'd feel bad—"

"I already asked her. She said yes. Since Jason is visiting his mother and Aria said she doesn't really like feeling so alone in the house, she said she'd do it," Toby announced.

"Wow." He really had it all planned out. "Then, I guess that's a yes," she responded. She kissed him softly. "Thank you for the flowers. I love them."

Before he could respond, there was a knock on the door. Spencer went to go answer it and it was Aria and Cassidy.

Cassidy had grown into being a really cute teenager. Her light brown hair had darkened considerably and hung in loose waves to just below her shoulders. Her hazel eyes tended to look green in the autumn. She was now in the eighth grade. She hadn't started acting like a terrible teenager just yet . . . but Aria was waiting for it.

Aria and Jason never had any other kids, but that was perfectly fine by them. While everyone else was having children—Hanna and Caleb had two children, a boy and a girl, and Emily and Natalie had adopted a little girl a year ago—the two of them were rather content spoiling Cassidy. Cassidy, who had a bunch of cousins, didn't seem to mind being an only child all that much.

Cassidy was lugging her backpack into the house like she had thirty pounds on her shoulder.

"Whoa. Someone got a lot of homework this weekend," Spencer commented.

Cassidy sighed as she dropped the bag on the ground. "I hate algebra," she grumbled.

"But math is so much fun," Toby argued.

"My teacher is the worst," she responded. "I forgot my homework at home _one time _and she hasn't forgiven me since it happened."

Aria brushed some hair behind Cassidy's ear—Cassidy, who was already about an inch taller than her mom. "But you're doing so well in all of your other classes," she assured Cassidy. "And you still have a good grade in math!"

Cassidy shrugged. "I just hope the teacher in high school is nicer than Ms. Georges."

"I'm sure they will be," Spencer assured Cassidy. Cassidy was tall, but still not taller than her Aunt Spencer.

* * *

Spencer looked around the place. She _knew _that she knew this place. "Are you trying to figure out where we are and why it's so familiar?" Toby asked, like he was reading her thoughts.

She nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but then she cut him off. "Don't tell me. I want to see if I can figure it out."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. "It's where we first met." He nodded. Spencer smiled. "I love you." She leaned over to kiss him and her phone began ringing.

"You should probably get that," Toby said.

"It can wait," she insisted before kissing him.

About two minutes later, she got another phone call. "Someone really wants to talk to you," he teased.

Spencer sighed before digging in her purse to find her phone. It was Aria. "Hello?"

"Spencer! Why didn't you answer me the first time?" Before Spencer even got the chance to respond, Aria continued. "Well, it doesn't matter. Sophia got really sick and I'm not sure what to do with her. She's been throwing up and she's been crying, too. She feels a little warm—"

Spencer sighed. "Toby and I will come home."

"No, no! I can handle—"

"I know you can, but if she's really sick, I'd prefer to be at home with her. We should be home within the hour. There's medicine in the bathroom cabinet, and if it gets worse, call me," Spencer said shortly before hanging up. "Can we please have a raincheck?" Spencer asked as she looked up at Toby.

"You want to reschedule our anniversary?" Toby asked with slight amusement in his voice.

"Yes. Our baby is sick!"

"Come on. Let's go."

* * *

Sophia pouted as she rubbed her pink and puffy eyes. "Are Mommy and Daddy coming home?" Sophia asked Aria.

"Yes, sweetie. I think they should be home soon. When I called Mommy, she said she would come home with Daddy," Aria responded. Cassidy watched in the doorway. Luckily, Sophia getting sick hadn't woken up Alex; he was still fast asleep in his bedroom.

"I want Daddy to come home and tuck me in so I can go to bed," Sophia said as she sat down on her bed and tried to lie down.

"Be careful, Soph. I don't want you to get sick again," Aria insisted as she lay Sophia down very slowly. She pressed her lips on Sophia's head. She was still warm, maybe a little warmer than before. "Cass? Can you go look for a thermometer in the bathroom cabinet?" A few moments later, Cassidy brought back a thermometer. "Open up, Sophie," Aria said before placing the thermometer in Sophia's mouth. As Aria suspected, Sophia had a low-grade fever of just slightly more than 1000. Just as Cassidy took back the thermometer, someone came into the house.

"Is that Mommy and Daddy?" Sophia asked, her eyes brightening.

"Probably. They'll be up in a minute, honey," Aria assured Sophia.

And sure enough, both Spencer and Toby were upstairs within a matter of a minute or two.

"Mommy, Daddy," Sophia said as she raised her hands. Spencer kissed her on the forehead and Toby took her by the hand. "I don't feel good," she complained.

"We're here now, Soph. What's wrong?" Spencer asked as she pushed a sweaty lock of hair from Sophia's forehead.

"My throat hurts," she complained.

"I'll go get you some water," Spencer announced.

"Daddy, will you stay here with me until I fall asleep?" Sophia asked.

Toby nodded with a slight smile on his face. Aria got up and left the room, as did Spencer, leaving Toby and Sophia alone. "Daddy, will you tell me a story to help me fall asleep?" Sophia asked.

"Sure. What kind of story do you want to hear?" Toby asked as Sophia curled up on his side.

"I want to hear the story of you and Mommy."

Toby was surprised, to say the least. "Are you sure you want to hear that story? It's kind of long and—"

"Come on, Daddy. I think I'm old enough to hear it now."

Toby couldn't help but laugh a little. "Do you really want to hear it?" Sophia nodded. "Okay, well, we met a long time ago . . . probably like fifteen years ago."

"_Fifteen_? Cassidy is only thirteen!"

"I know. Will you let me finish the story?" Sophia laughed and Toby continued. "When I met your mom, she was dating someone else. She was going to get married to someone else. Can you imagine if Mommy was married to someone else? You wouldn't exist."

"What?!" Sophia was absolutely incredulous.

"She was dating somebody else at first, but eventually she stopped dating him and I started dating her like a year after I met her. It's really a boring story, Soph. Lots of boring adult things. When we moved in together in this house, we got Pandora—"

"Pandora!" Sophia loved the cats and Missy.

"And a little while after we got married, we got Mowgli. And then Alex was born—"

"Boring!" she insisted.

"It was very exciting for both of us. And scary, too, I guess."

"Tell me about how _I _was born," Sophia prompted.

Toby sighed. "When your brother was born, we had wanted him, but we weren't really expecting him. You, on the other hand, we both wanted very badly. We tried everything just so you would be born. That's a little secret we're going to keep between you and me, right?"

"Fine," Sophia responded.

"When Mommy was pregnant with you, we got Missy. Missy was so protective of Mommy when she was still pregnant. Missy would follow Mommy everywhere—she'd even sit outside of the bathroom."

Sophia laughed. "Missy is so funny."

"Have you ever wondered why Missy is so protective of you and loves you so much?" Toby asked.

Sophia smiled as she thought about it. "But tell me more, Daddy!"

"Maybe another day, Sophie. You'd better go to sleep if you want to feel any better." Toby got up from next to Sophia and tucked her into bed, kissing her on the forehead. It was only then that he noticed Spencer was standing in the doorway.

"Here's your water if you want it, angel," Spencer said as she placed the glass of water on the nightstand. She also kissed Sophia. She joined Toby in the hallway and closed the door quietly.

"How much of that did you hear?" Toby asked her as they walked downstairs.

"Almost all of it," Spencer said with a small smile. "I can't believe she's already asking questions about how we met and about the two of us. How long until she starts asking how babies are born?" she asked playfully as she looked in the fridge for leftovers.

"I can't believe she's already five," he commented.

"It's not like we're helping her pick out colleges, Toby; she barely knows how to spell college," Spencer reassured him.

"I know but—"

"You'll survive," Spencer assured him.

"Do you still think about him?"

Spencer stopped what she was doing abruptly. "Who?" Toby didn't respond. "Andrew or Brandon?"

"Both."

"Sure—Brandon more so than . . ." She trailed off. "You know I still wear that locket all the time. It doesn't bother me as much anymore and I don't really take so much time to dwell on the hypotheticals."

"What do you think would have happened if you had never broken up with Andrew?"

Spencer shrugged, like the answer was simple. "I would have been wholly unhappy. I don't think I would have had any children after Brandon. I would be either divorced or deeply unhappy—and extremely jealous of whomever you ended up with," she assured him.

"What makes you think I would've been with someone else?" Toby asked.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not a sappy, over-the-top romantic kind of person, but I'm sure you would have found some way to move on and I would have been stuck." She weaved her fingers into his. "I could never really express to you all the things you did for me—you were like a new beginning for me. I was a wholly different person before I met you. And I'm not giving you all of the credit, but you helped me figure out who I wanted to be . . . you helped me figure out that I didn't have to be perfect all the time to be happy. I didn't have to live for others—I just had to live for myself."

She didn't realize she was tearing up at that moment until she felt the salty taste on her lips. She let him wipe away the tears. "I love you," was all she really had to say.

"I love you, too."

And at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered. It wasn't flowers or jewels or even romantic poetry; love was infinite, unobtainable, unpredictable . . . it couldn't even be described sufficiently in words. Whenever a good word was found to describe love, a better word came along. And then another. And another. People go on forever trying to find this one perfect word, one word that's better than all the rest, one that truly captures the emotion, until one day . . .

They realize that there is no answer; there's no one word to describe what love is. Something they spent almost their whole life searching for does not exist—even though it is everywhere. And once that realization sinks in, they realize that at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter anyway.

* * *

_I'm wholly upset with this ending. It was good and then the last two paragraphs sort of ruined it. I don't know what to do with myself now. Don't look at me._

_I'm not going to respond to the reviews I got from the last chapter, but I would like to take a moment to thank **sarahschneider2012 **and **arubagirl0926** for being so faithful to this story, even when I haven't really been, and also anyone else who has stuck through this whole story. _

_I don't think I have enough words to express how thankful I am for anyone who is reading this or anyone who has read any part of this entire story (or really any of my fanfictions, for that matter). Thank you so much for giving my work a shot, even if it was something you didn't enjoy. Thank you so much. **-Kayson**_


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